Hakuhō Shō

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白鵬 翔
Hakuhō Shō

Personal information
Birth name	Mönkhbatyn Davaajargal
Date of birth	March 11, 1985 (1985-03-11) (age 23)
Place of birth	Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	153 kg (340 lb/24.1 st)
Career*
Heya	Miyagino
Current rank	Yokozuna
Record	361-135-21
Debut	March, 2001
Highest rank	Yokozuna (May, 2007)
Yusho	6 (Makuuchi) 1 (Jūryō)
Special Prizes	Outstanding Performance (3) Fighting Spirit (1) Technique (2)
Gold stars	1 (Asashōryū)
* Career information is correct as of May 2008.

Hakuhō Shō (born March 11, 1985 as Mönkhbatyn Davaajargal, Mongolian: Мөнхбатын Даваажаргал) is a professional sumo wrestler (rikishi) from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. On May 30, 2007 at the age of 22 he became the second native of Mongolia, and the fourth non Japanese overall, to be promoted to the highest rank in sumo, yokozuna.

[edit] Early Career

Like many of his countrymen in professional sumo, Hakuhō belongs to a family in the Mongolian wrestling tradition. His father Jigjid Mönkhbat won a silver medal in freestyle wrestling at the 1968 Summer Olympics. Davaajargal came to Japan in October 2000, when he was fifteen years old. With a weight of only 62 kg (140 lb), no sumo training stable (heya) was prepared to accept him. Hearing this, pioneering Mongolian rikishi Kyokushūzan asked his heya master to intercede, and Davaajargal was accepted to Miyagino stable on the last day of his two-month stay in Japan, December 24 2000. He was given the ring name (shikona) Hakuhō, with haku meaning "white" and hō meaning Chinese mythological bird "Peng".

Hakuhō made his professional debut at the March tournament (honbasho) in Osaka in March, 2001. As his weight increased he steadily rose in the ranks, reaching the second highest jūryō division in January 2004, and the top division in May of the same year. He enjoyed great success in subsequent tournaments, winning a gold star (kinboshi) for defeating Yokozuna Asashōryū while still at the lowest makuuchi rank of maegashira. He achieved a rapid promotion to the rank of komusubi in January 2005 and sekiwake only one tournament later. His progress was delayed by an injury which forced him to take leave (zen-kyu) from the Nagoya tournament in 2005. Ōzeki promotion came in March 2006, just a few weeks after his twenty-first birthday. This made him the fourth youngest wrestler to reach that rank in modern sumo history.

[edit] Ōzeki

At his first tournament as ōzeki in May 2006, Hakuhō won his first championship (yūshō) with a 14-1 record. After another strong performance (13-2) in July Hakuhō flirted with promotion to yokozuna, but an uncharacteristically poor 8-7 showing in September shelved such early hopes. An accidental injury in November prevented him from participating in the November tournament,^[1] putting him at risk for demotion (kadoban) in January 2007, when he scored a respectable ten wins on his return to the ring.

[edit] Promotion to Yokozuna

Hakuhō, flanked by Miyagino-oyakata and his wife, formally receives news of his yokozuna promotion on May 30, 2007 at Miyagino-beya in Tokyo

On March 25, 2007 Hakuhō won his second championship in Osaka^[2] and on May 27, 2007 a third championship in the very next tournament, with a perfect 15-0 record.^[3] Winning two consecutive championships satisfies the de facto minimum requirements for promotion to the top rank in sumo. On the day following the tournament, the Yokozuna Deliberation Council unanimously recommended his promotion to yokozuna^[4] which was formally announced by the Nihon Sumo Kyokai on May 30, 2007.^[5] He performed his inaugural ring-entering ceremony (dohyo-iri) at Meiji Jingu in the rarer Shiranui style on June 1.

Hakuhō performs his first dohyo-iri as yokozuna at Meji Jingu

[edit] Yokozuna

Hakuhō's first tournament as a yokozuna was in July 2007. His 25 match winning streak was brought to an end by Kotomitsuki on the 10th day, and further losses to Kotoōshū and Chiyotaikai put him out of contention for the title. He finished the tournament with an 11-4 record.

Hakuhō's first tournament championship as a yokozuna came in September 2007 with a 13-2 record, triumphing over Chiyotaikai on the last day. Fellow Mongolian Kyokutenhō was runner-up in this basho. His second title as a yokozuna, and fifth overall, came in the following tournament in November with a 12-3 score. He lost to Kotomitsuki on the final day but the championship had already been decided earlier in the day when his only challenger Chiyotaikai pulled out through injury. His yokozuna rival Asashōryū missed both these tournaments through suspension.

In the January 2008 tournament, he faced the returning Asashōryū on the final day with both wrestlers having a 13-1 score. In a bout lasting nearly a minute, Hakuho defeated Asashōryū, winning his 6th championship with a 14-1 record. In the March 2008 tournament the two yokozuna met once again to decide the title and this time Asashōryū got his revenge, with Hakuhō finishing as runner-up. On the 10th day of the May 2008 tournament he lost to Ama for the fourth time in their last five meetings, injuring his ankle as a result. Subsequent losses to Kotoōshū (the eventual winner of the tournament) and Kotomitsuki put him out of contention for the championship. He finished on 11-4, losing to Asashōryū on the final day in a match that sparked controversy after the two yokozuna nearly came to blows when Asashōryū gave Hakuhō an extra shove after the bout was over.^[6] Both wrestlers were given a warning over their conduct by the Japan Sumo Association.^[6]

[edit] Family

In February, 2007, Hakuhō married a 22 year-old university student in Tokyo after a three-year relationship. The couple welcomed a daughter in May.

[edit] Top division record

[edit] References

[edit] See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Hakuhō Shō

• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of active sumo wrestlers
• List of yokozuna

[edit] External links

• Nihon Sumo Kyokai - Biography