Kyokutenhō Masaru

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旭天鵬勝
Kyokutenhō Masaru
Personal information

Birth name	Nyamjavyn Tsevegnyam
Date of birth	September 13, 1974 (1974-09-13) (age 33)
Place of birth	Nalaikh, Mongolia
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	154 kg (340 lb/24.3 st)
Career*
Heya	Ōshima
Current rank	Maegashira 2
Record	636-605-22
Debut	March, 1992
Highest rank	Sekiwake (July, 2003)
Special Prizes	Fighting Spirit (5)
Gold stars	2 (Asashōryū, Takanohana)
* Career information is correct as of May 2008.

Kyokutenhō Masaru (born September 13, 1974 as Nyamjavyn Tsevegnyam, Mongolian: Нямжавын Цэвэгням in Nalaikh, Mongolia) is a professional sumo wrestler. His highest rank has been sekiwake.

1 Career
2 Top division record
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Career

In 1991, Tsevegnyam came to Japan with five other Mongolian wrestlers, including Kyokushūzan, joining Ōshima stable. They were the first Mongolians to join professional sumo. In Mongolia he had had little experience of wrestling or judo, concentrating on basketball in junior high school. Six months after they came to Japan, due to cultural difference, language problems, and the extremely harsh training methods used in sumo, Kyokutenhō, Kyokushuzan and three others ran away and sought refuge in the Mongolian embassy. But he was persuaded by Kyokutenzan to return to his stable.

In March 1996, he was promoted to the jūryō division, and in January 1998 to the top makuuchi division. He first achieved a sanyaku rank in January 2002 when he was promoted to komusubi and he made his sekiwake debut in July 2003. He has not, however, managed to achieve a winning record in his three attempts at sekiwake. In 2005, he obtained Japanese citizenship with the support of his stable master. This will enable him to take over the running of Ōshima stable when the current stable master, ex Ōzeki Asahikuni, reaches the mandatory retirement age of 65 in 2012.

On 28 April 2007 he caused a car accident in Tokyo. He was punished for defying the Japan Sumo Association's ban on wrestlers driving cars by being forced to sit out the May tournament, resulting in demotion to the jūryō division. However, he won immediate promotion back to the top division with a 12-3 record in July. On his return to the top division in September he was runner-up to Yokozuna Hakuho, his first ever runner-up score in makuuchi. He was awarded his fifth Fighting Spirit prize.

Kyokutenhō's brother Robsandorj, nine years his junior, also became a sumo wrestler in 2000 under the name Fudoyama, but he never climbed higher than the third makushita division and retired in January 2008.

[edit] Top division record

Kyokutenhō Masaru^[1]
	January Hatsu basho, Tokyo	March Haru basho, Osaka	May Natsu basho, Tokyo	July Nagoya basho, Nagoya	September Aki basho, Tokyo	November Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka
1998	West Maegashira #15 9–6	East Maegashira #12 6–9	(Jūryō)	West Maegashira #15 4–11	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)
1999	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)	East Maegashira #14 9–6	West Maegashira #10 7–8	East Maegashira #12 8–7	East Maegashira #8 6–9
2000	East Maegashira #13 11–4 F	West Maegashira #2 4–11	East Maegashira #6 7–8	West Maegashira #7 9–6	East Maegashira #3 4–11	West Maegashira #6 7–8
2001	East Maegashira #8 10–5	East Maegashira #1 3–12	West Maegashira #7 6–9	East Maegashira #11 8–7	East Maegashira #8 9–6	West Maegashira #5 8–7
2002	East Komusubi 6–9	East Maegashira #2 6–9	West Maegashira #4 6–9	East Maegashira #8 8–7	East Maegashira #3 8–7 ★	East Komusubi 7–8
2003	East Maegashira #2 8–7	East Maegashira #1 9–6 F★	West Komusubi 10–5 F	West Sekiwake 6–9	East Maegashira #2 10–5 F	West Sekiwake 4–11
2004	West Maegashira #3 8–7	West Maegashira #2 10–5	East Sekiwake 6–9	East Maegashira #1 8–7	East Komusubi 5–10	West Maegashira #3 5–10
2005	East Maegashira #6 10–5	East Maegashira #1 6–9	West Maegashira #3 6–9	West Maegashira #5 8–7	West Maegashira #3 10–5	East Komusubi 8–7
2006	East Komusubi 4–11	East Maegashira #5 11–4	East Komusubi 5–10	West Maegashira #2 6–9	West Maegashira #4 6–9	East Maegashira #6 8–7
2007	East Maegashira #3 8–7	East Maegashira #2 4–11	East Maegashira #8 Suspended 0–0–15	(Jūryō)	West Maegashira #12 12–3 F	West Maegashira #4 4–11
2007	West Maegashira #10 10–5	West Maegashira #4 8–7	East Maegashira #2 4–11	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