Futen'ō Izumi

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普天王 水
Futen'ō Izumi
Personal information
Birth name Izumi Uchida
Date of birth August 28, 1980 (1980-08-28) (age 27)
Place of birth Kumamoto, Japan
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 150 kg (330 lb)
Web presence website
Career*
Heya Dewanoumi
Current rank Maegashira 6
Record 244-231-4
Debut January, 2003
Highest rank Komusubi (September 2005)
Special Prizes Fighting Spirit (1)
Technique (1)

* Career information is correct as of May 2008.

Futen'ō Izumi (born August 28, 1980 as Izumi Uchida in Tensui, Tamana District, Kumamoto, Japan), is a sumo wrestler. The highest rank he has reached is komusubi.

Contents

[edit] Career

He was born to a family of orange farmers. He had loved sumo since elementary school and had the full support of his parents in turning professional, although his father wished him to complete his education first.[1] After finishing high school he went to Nihon University, where he gained the amateur equivalent of the yokozuna title.

Futen'ō entered professional sumo in January 2003. He joined Dewanoumi stable, one of the most prestigious heya in sumo. Its longstanding history was one of the reasons he chose that particular stable.[1] Because of his amateur achievements he was given makushita tsukedashi status and so was allowed to leapfrog the lower divisions, beginning his career as a makushita (third division) wrestler. He was runner-up in his first tournament, only losing on a tie-break after a 6-1 result. He was promoted to jūryō after only two tournaments, and the makuuchi division five tournaments later, in March 2004.

Futen'ō initially struggled in the top division, recording four make-koshi tournaments out of five before slipping back to the jūryō division in January 2005. He returned to the makuuchi division for the next tournament, however, and results of 11-4 and 10-5 in May and July saw him rewarded with two special prizes for Fighting Spirit and Technique and promotion to komusubi, his highest rank so far. Despite unexpectedly defeating yokozuna Asashōryū on the opening day of the tournament (his only win against a yokozuna to date) he was unable to retain the rank, posting a 5-10 score. In November 2005 he tore ligaments in his right ankle,[1] forcing him to withdraw from the tournament, and he has not yet managed to return to komusubi. A series of mixed results in 2007 left him a middle-ranked maegashira for most of the year. In 2008 he has produced three consecutive kachi-koshi or winning scores so far.

His shikona, or sumo name of Futen'ō was thought up by his father.[1] Coming from Tensui village, he had wanted to use the kanji "ten", so his father combined "futen", meaning "everything in the universe", with "teno", from a traditional story about a boy who works hard to protect a mountain. Taken together, Futen'ō regards his fighting name as meaning "one who works hard on everything."[1]

Futeno announced his engagement in April 2008, to a 27 year old former nurse who he met in Nagoya in 2005. They will officially celebrate their union in August.[2]

He is one of several top sumo wrestlers to keep a blog which he regularly updates even during tournaments, reviewing each of his wins and losses.

[edit] Top division record

Futen'ō Izumi[3]
January
Hatsu basho, Tokyo		 March
Haru basho, Osaka		 May
Natsu basho, Tokyo		 July
Nagoya basho, Nagoya		 September
Aki basho, Tokyo		 November
Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka
2004 x East Maegashira #15
7–8
 		 West Maegashira #15
7–8
 		 West Maegashira #15
10–5
 		 East Maegashira #10
4–11
 		 East Maegashira #16
7–8
 
2005 (Jūryō) West Maegashira #13
8–7
 		 East Maegashira #10
11–4
F		 West Maegashira #3
10–5
T		 West Komusubi
5–10
 		 East Maegashira #2
3–8–4
 
2006 West Maegashira #8
9–6
 		 East Maegashira #4
6–9
 		 East Maegashira #7
9–6
 		 East Maegashira #5
6–9
 		 East Maegashira #7
9–6
 		 West Maegashira #2
5–10
 
2007 West Maegashira #7
8–7
 		 East Maegashira #4
3–12
 		 East Maegashira #13
10–5
 		 West Maegashira #7
5–10
 		 West Maegashira #11
8–7
 		 West Maegashira #9
6–9
 
2008 East Maegashira #12
8–7
 		 East Maegashira #10
10–5
 		 East Maegashira #6
9–6
 		 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
Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi

Makuuchi ranks: Yokozuna — Ōzeki — Sekiwake — Komusubi — Maegashira

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Mitchell, Andrew (2008-01-25). SUMO: Futeno living out childhood dream in sumo ring. Asahi.com. Retrieved on 3008-05-31.
  2. ^ http://www.kocosports.com/absolutenm/anmviewer.asp?a=20859&z=80
  3. ^ Rikishi in Juryo and Makunouchi (English). szumo.hu. Retrieved on 2007-09-24.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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