Hokutōriki Hideki
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Birth name | Hideki Kimura | |
| Date of birth | October 31, 1977 | |
| Place of birth | Tochigi, Japan | |
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | |
| Weight | 147 kg (320 lb) | |
| Career* | ||
| Heya | Hakkaku | |
| Current rank | Maegashira 6 | |
| Record | 483-448-18 | |
| Debut | March, 1993 | |
| Highest rank | Sekiwake (July, 2004) | |
| Yusho | 1 (Sandanme) | |
| Special Prizes | Outstanding Performance (1) Fighting Spirit (3) |
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| Gold stars | 1 (Asashōryū) | |
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* Career information is correct as of May 2008. |
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Hokutōriki Hideki (born October 31, 1977 as Hideki Kimura) is a sumo wrestler, from Tochigi, Japan. The highest rank he has reached is sekiwake.
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[edit] Career
He was born in Kurobane, a town in the Nasu District of Tochigi Prefecture. Hokutōriki made his professional debut in March 1993, joining Kokonoe stable. In October of that year he transferred to the newly created Hakkaku stable run by former yokozuna Hokutoumi. It took nearly nine years for him to achieve sekitori status by gaining promotion to the second juryo division in January 2002. It took him only two further tournaments to reach the top makuuchi division.
On his debut outing in makuuchi in May 2002 he made an immediate impression, finishing as runner-up with a strong 11-4 record and the fighting spirit prize. The highlight of his career to date came two years later in May 2004 when, ranked as maegashira 1, he defeated Asashōryū on the sixth day, ending the yokozuna's 35 bout winning streak. He finished the tournament with a superb 13-2 record, and fought Asashōryū again on the final day in a playoff for the title. Although he lost the match, after the tournament he was promoted to sumo's third highest rank of sekiwake. He managed only a 3-12 record in his sekiwake debut and since then has bounced up and down the maegashira ranks. In November 2006 he pulled out of the tournament on the ninth day with no wins at all and was relegated to the jūryō division. However, a 9-6 record at jūryō 4 in March 2007 was good enough to earn promotion back to the top division for the May tournament. Two further good performances took him up to maegashira 3 for September, his highest rank in a year and a half.
Hokutōriki often uses henka, or sidestepping, to wrong-foot his opponents. However in the January 2008 tournament he was himself a victim of this tactic on three consecutive days, slipping from a score of 6-5 to 6-8. He produced another good performance of 10-5 at maegashira 6 in the May 2008 tournament.
Hokutōriki is married, and his first child, a daughter, was born in December 2007.
[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 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | x | x | East Maegashira #14 11–4 F |
West Maegashira #5 7–8 |
East Maegashira #6 9–6 |
West Maegashira #2 5–10 |
| 2003 | East Maegashira #6 4–11 |
East Maegashira #11 10–5 |
West Maegashira #5 6–9 |
West Maegashira #7 10–5 |
West Maegashira #2 4–11 |
East Maegashira #7 10–5 |
| 2004 | West Maegashira #1 5–10 |
East Maegashira #6 9–6 |
West Maegashira #1 13–2 FO★ |
West Sekiwake 3–12 |
East Maegashira #6 5–10 |
West Maegashira #11 8–7 |
| 2005 | East Maegashira #8 8–7 |
West Maegashira #5 7–8 |
West Maegashira #6 8–7 |
East Maegashira #5 6–9 |
East Maegashira #7 8–7 |
West Maegashira #1 2–13 |
| 2006 | East Maegashira #11 12–3 F |
West Maegashira #2 1–14 |
West Maegashira #13 10–5 |
East Maegashira #7 4–11 |
East Maegashira #13 10–5 |
East Maegashira #5 0–9–6 |
| 2007 | (Jūryō) | (Jūryō) | East Maegashira #16 9–6 |
West Maegashira #10 10–5 |
East Maegashira #3 3–12 |
East Maegashira #10 8–7 |
| 2008 | West Maegashira #6 7–8 |
West Maegashira #7 8–7 |
West Maegashira #6 10–5 |
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 |
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[edit] References
- ^ Rikishi in Juryo and Makunouchi (English). szumo.hu. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
