Grade 2 - Tajima Chira (田島 千照) won last year's Hakuho Cup, so reaching the final this year shows that he is one of the best in his year group, and so his name will probably be coming up a few more times over the next few years.

Grade 3 - Kodama Hayato (児玉 颯飛) is going from strength to strength, as he successfully defends his Hakuho Cup title from last year. This kid has shown what it takes to be a star of the future, and will now be the clear favourite to win this summer's Wanpaku Tournament. Watch this space.

Grade 4 - A repeat of the Hakuho Cup final for the past 3 years, as once again the department of techniques, Nakanishi Kaishin (中西 海心, first photo) takes on the big kid on the block, Nishijima Yura (西島 悠来, second photo). Once again, the short but skilful Nakanishi has the advantage throughout the bout, but once again, he just couldn't finish it off, try as he may. Once again, Nishijima was eventually able to get a reversal win at the edge, to win is fourth successive Hakuho Cup. My heart goes out to Nakanishi.

Grade 5 - Someone has finally been able to defeat the unstoppable Yamashita Shosuke (山下 昇介), as the final this time is contested between Kumamoto's Ote Kira (大手 希星, first photo) and Tokitsukaze Oyakata's younger son, Sakamoto Shoma (坂本 正真, second photo). Sakamoto won the first three Hakuho Cups in his year group, but his size and strength advantage hasn't been as apparent since then. Ote, on the other hand, has been getting better and better, and will be a contender this summer for the Wanpaku.

Grade 6 - Aomori's Narita Rikido (成田 力道) must be very happy tonight, as he wins his first ever Hakuho Cup. This victory means that Narita has won the Wanpaku, the Primary School Championships, the Hakuho Cup, the Club Championships and the Chinju-no-Mori Tournament, at least once in his primary school days. This is a remarkable achievement, so kudos to Narita. It would be interesting to see how he develops over the next few years, as he begins to tackle the Middle School Championships this summer.

Middle School - Two of the biggest names in the 3rd Year year group met in this year's final, as the tall and strong Tsuchiya Kazuya (土屋 和也, left in first photo) faced the largely built Kawabuchi Kazuma (川渕 一意, yellow kanji on red background). Kawabuchi has been unlucky in important bouts in the past, but not this time, as his wins his first national tournament.