Chiyotaikai Ryūji
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Birth name | Ryūji Hiroshima | |
| Date of birth | April 29, 1976 | |
| Place of birth | Chitose, Hokkaidō, Japan | |
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 111⁄2 in) | |
| Weight | 158 kg (350 lb/24.9 st) | |
| Web presence | website | |
| Career* | ||
| Heya | Kokonoe | |
| Current rank | Ōzeki | |
| Record | 715-453-107 | |
| Debut | November 1992 | |
| Highest rank | Ōzeki (March 1999) | |
| Yusho | 3 (Makuuchi) 2 (Jūryō) 1 (Sandanme) 1 (Jonokuchi) |
|
| Special Prizes | Outstanding Performance (1) Fighting Spirit (1) Technique (3) |
|
| Gold stars | 1 (Takanohana) | |
|
* Career information is correct as of May 2008. |
||
Chiyotaikai Ryūji (born April 29, 1976 as Ryūji Hiroshima in Chitose, Hokkaidō), is a Japanese sumo wrestler. He is the longest serving ōzeki in the modern era.
Contents |
[edit] Career
After his father's death, Chiyotaikai's family moved to Oita, which is considered his hometown. Chiyotaikai was an enthusiastic player of baseball and soccer as well as a successful budoka, excelling at judo and karate. Unfortunately, he was also a very rough kid who got into fights as a member of a gang of youths.[1]After finishing high school, he worked as a construction worker before he decided to accept an offer by former yokozuna Chiyonofuji's sumo stable Kokonoe-beya. The story goes that Chiyonofuji refused the new wrestler because of his bleached hair and obliged him to get a haircut before allowing him to join.[1]
Chiyotaikai was given his shikona (wrestler name) in honour of his stablemaster and joined professional sumo in 1992 and became a sekitori in 1995 upon entering the jūryō division. Another two years went by until he reached makuuchi, the top division. In May 1998, Chiyotaikai was made komusubi and has not left the sanyaku ranks since. In January 1999, he won his first top division championship, defeating Wakanohana in the play-off, and he was made ōzeki in March of that year. Even though he had to bow out from that very first tournament that he fought as an ōzeki after breaking his nose, he has retained his rank to the present day. In July 2007 he broke Takanohana's record of fifty tournaments at ōzeki rank.
The reverse side of his longevity as an ōzeki is his inability to achieve promotion to yokozuna. He had performed at a rather mediocre level for some time before his next big success being the near-winner in the January tournament of 2002 and then getting his second championship in Nagoya that same year. An injury ended his streak, and it took him until March 2003 to achieve his third and most recent tournament victory. He was runner-up in the November 2005 tournament and then had another lean couple of years. In November 2007 he was the tournament co-leader until the 14th day when he lost to Hakuhō. He injured his elbow during this match and had to default on the final day. He was still troubled by the injury in the January 2008 tournament and withdrew after losing his first seven bouts.
Chiyotaikai's 5-10 score in May 2008 means he will be kadoban (in danger of demotion from ōzeki status) for a record twelfth time in July 2008.
[edit] Fighting style
Chiyotaikai is somewhat above average in size (1.81 m/158 kg), but he is nonetheless a very agile fighter who prefers quick decisions by oshi-sumo. He is known mostly for his explosive charge at the beginning of his matches and his trademark barrage of forward thrusting hand-slaps. Indeed, he is so famous for them that he has been criticized by sumo fans for being a "one-trick pony." If Chiyotaikai's opponents manage to grab hold of his mawashi, he usually loses the match.
[edit] Top division record
| January Hatsu basho, Tokyo |
March Haru basho, Osaka |
May Natsu basho, Tokyo |
July Nagoya basho, Nagoya |
September Aki basho, Tokyo |
November Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | x | x | x | x | West Maegashira #11 8–7 |
East Maegashira #5 6–9 |
| 1998 | East Maegashira #8 9–6 |
East Maegashira #1 8–7 T★ |
East Komusubi 8–7 |
West Sekiwake 11–4 T |
East Sekiwake 9–6 T |
East Sekiwake 10–5 |
| 1999 | East Sekiwake 13–2 FO |
West Ōzeki 3–8–4 |
Sat out due to injury | West Ōzeki 10–5 |
East Ōzeki 10–5 |
East Ōzeki 9–6 |
| 2000 | West Ōzeki 9–6 |
West Ōzeki 8–7 |
East Ōzeki 11–4 |
East Ōzeki 11–4 |
East Ōzeki 10–5 |
West Ōzeki 9–6 |
| 2001 | West Ōzeki 2–2–11 |
Sat out due to injury | East Ōzeki 12–3 |
East Ōzeki 11–4 |
West Ōzeki 4–5–6 |
Sat out due to injury |
| 2002 | East Ōzeki 13–2 |
West Ōzeki 7–8 |
West Ōzeki 11–4 |
West Ōzeki 14–1 |
East Ōzeki 10–5 |
West Ōzeki 6–3–6 |
| 2003 | Sat out due to injury | East Ōzeki 12–3 |
East Ōzeki 10–5 |
West Ōzeki 11–4 |
West Ōzeki 11–4 |
East Ōzeki 10–5 |
| 2004 | West Ōzeki 10–5 |
East Ōzeki 13–2 |
East Ōzeki 9–6 |
West Ōzeki 10–5 |
West Ōzeki 8–7 |
West Ōzeki 7–8 |
| 2005 | West Ōzeki 8–7 |
East Ōzeki 6–9 |
West Ōzeki 10–5 |
East Ōzeki 3–6–6 |
West Ōzeki 10–5 |
West Ōzeki 11–4 |
| 2006 | East Ōzeki 4–4–7 |
East Ōzeki 9–6 |
East Ōzeki 10–5 |
West Ōzeki 9–6 |
West Ōzeki 10–5 |
East Ōzeki 9–6 |
| 2007 | West Ōzeki 10–5 |
East Ōzeki 7–8 |
West Ōzeki 10–5 |
West Ōzeki 9–6 |
East Ōzeki 9–6 |
West Ōzeki 11–4 |
| 2008 | East Ōzeki 0–8–7 |
West Ōzeki 8–7 |
East Ōzeki 5–10 |
x | x | x |
| Record given as win-loss-absent Championship Retired Demoted from makuuchi Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique Also shown: ★=Kinboshi |
||||||
