Kitazakura Hidetoshi
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Birth name | Hidetoshi Mukō | |
| Date of birth | December 15, 1971 | |
| Place of birth | Hiroshima, Japan | |
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | |
| Weight | 168 kg (370 lb) | |
| Web presence | website | |
| Career* | ||
| Heya | Kitanoumi | |
| Current rank | Jūryō 8 | |
| Record | 672-642-15 | |
| Debut | March, 1987 | |
| Highest rank | Maegashira 9 (July, 2001) | |
| Yusho | 1 (Jūryō) 1 (Makushita) |
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* Career information is correct as of May 2008. |
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Kitazakura Hidetoshi (北桜 英敏?) (born December 15, 1971 as Hidetoshi Mukō (向 英俊 Mukō Hidetoshi?)) is a sumo wrestler from Asakita ward, Hiroshima City, Japan. Initially wrestling using his real name, his highest rank has been maegashira 9.
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[edit] Career
Kitazakura has the longest sumo career of any of his top division rivals, having made his professional debut over twenty years ago in March 1987. He joined Kitanoumi stable. His younger brother, Toyozakura, also became a sumo wrestler two years later. Unusually for brothers in sumo, they belong to different stables, Toyozakura joining Tatsutagawa stable. This was the wish of their father,[1] a former sumo wrestler himself who reached the fourth sandanme division. Kitazakura and Toyozakura have never met in competition, as brothers are not matched against each other.
Kitazakura first adopted his current shikona in November 1987. It took a long time to get to the salaried sekitori ranks and he spent seven years from 1991 to 1998 in the third makushita division. He got as high as makushita 5 in September 1995 and a good performance might have got him promotion to the second jūryō division but he fell short with a 2-5 record. Reverting back to his own surname failed to change his fortunes and he fell right to the bottom of the makushita division. However after changing back to the name Kitazakura he took the makushita championship with a perfect 7-0 record in September 1997 and three more winning records finally earned him promotion to jūryō in July 1998, after a total of eleven years in the lower divisions. He did not reach the top makuuchi division until July 2001 when he was in his thirtieth year, after winning the jūryō championship in May 2001. The 86 tournaments it took him to get there is the sixth slowest ever. He has not managed to become a makuuchi regular, spending most of his time in jūryō, but he is very popular with the tournament crowds, due to his adoption of Mitoizumi's trademark salt throwing routine in the pre-bout rituals.[1]
Kitazakura is married, with one daughter.
[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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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | x | x | x | West Maegashira #9 6–9 |
East Maegashira #13 8–7 |
West Maegashira #11 5–10 |
| 2002 | (Jūryō) | (Jūryō) | (Jūryō) | (Jūryō) | (Jūryō) | (Jūryō) |
| 2003 | (Jūryō) | (Jūryō) | (Makushita) | (Jūryō) | (Jūryō) | (Jūryō) |
| 2004 | East Maegashira #15 3–12 |
(Jūryō) | (Jūryō) | (Jūryō) | East Maegashira #17 6–9 |
(Jūryō) |
| 2005 | (Jūryō) | (Jūryō) | (Jūryō) | (Jūryō) | (Jūryō) | (Jūryō) |
| 2006 | East Maegashira #17 9–6 |
West Maegashira #14 7–8 |
West Maegashira #15 7–8 |
East Maegashira #16 5–10 |
(Jūryō) | West Maegashira #11 4–11 |
| 2007 | (Jūryō) | (Jūryō) | (Jūryō) | West Maegashira #11 6–9 |
East Maegashira #14 4–11 |
(Jūryō) |
| 2008 | (Jūryō) | (Jūryō) | (Jūryō) | 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
- ^ a b Lewin, Brian (February 2006). Brothers In Sumo Part 2 (English). sumofanmag.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
- ^ Rikishi in Juryo and Makunouchi (English). szumo.hu. Retrieved on 2007-07-02.
