Tokitenkū Yoshiaki

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時天空慶晃
Tokitenkū Yoshiaki
Personal information

Birth name	Altangadasny Khüchitbaatar
Date of birth	September 10, 1979 (1979-09-10) (age 28)
Place of birth	Mongolia
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	149 kg (330 lb)
Career*
Heya	Tokitsukaze
Current rank	Maegashira 4
Record	246-207-0
Debut	July 2002
Highest rank	Komusubi (March 2007)
Yusho	1 (Jūryō) 1 (Sandanme) 1 (Jonidan) 1 (Jonokuchi)
Special Prizes	Technique (1)
* Career information is correct as of May 2008.

Tokitenkū Yoshiaki (born September 10, 1979 as Altangadasny Khüchitbaatar, Mongolian: Алтангадасын Хүчитбаатар, in Altanbulag, Töv Province, Mongolia) is a sumo wrestler. The highest rank he has reached is komusubi.

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

[edit] Career

Tokitenkū is the son of a Mongolian wrestler, who reached a rank equivalent to komusubi in Mongolian wrestling.

He first came to Japan in 2000 to study at Tokyo University of Agriculture. Although he took part in sumo, winning the under 100kg collegiate chamionships, he originally intended to return to Mongolia upon graduation. However, he was inspired to enter professional sumo by watching active wrestlers Asashōryū and Asasekiryū, with whom he had practised judo as a teenager in Ulaanbaatar. He joined Tokitsukaze stable just before turning 23 years of age, the upper age limit set by the Japan Sumo Association.

He began his career in July 2002, winning all of his first 22 official bouts and earning three consecutive division championships in the process. Only Itai and Tochiazuma, who each won their first 26 matches, have had a longer unbeaten run from sumo entry. He progressed to the second highest jūryō division in March 2004 and, just two tournaments later, to the top makuuchi division. It took him only 12 tournaments from his professional debut to make the top division, which is equal to the second fastest rise since six tournaments a year were introduced in 1958.

He was not able at first to maintain his makuuchi position, dropping back to juryo twice, but a result of 10-5 in November 2005 gained him the rank of maegashira 1 as well as the technique prize. He made his sanyaku or titled rank debut in March 2007 at komusubi, where he defeated Yokozuna Asashōryū on the opening day but missed out on another special prize by falling just short of a majority of wins, posting a 7-8 score. He returned to komusubi in July 2007, but again scored 7-8. He has remained at the top of the maegashira ranks since then, but has not managed a winning record so far in 2008.

When he began his sumo career he weighed around 113 kg (250 lb), but he has gained weight steadily and is now about 150 kg (330 lb), average for the top division. His favourite technique is yori-kiri, or force out, although he also relies on pull-down techniques such as hataki-komi and hiki-otoshi.

[edit] Top division record

Tokitenkū Yoshiaki^[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
2004	x	x	x	East Maegashira #17 6–9	(Jūryō)	West Maegashira #15 7–8
2005	West Maegashira #17 6–9	(Jūryō)	West Maegashira #15 8–7	East Maegashira #12 9–6	West Maegashira #6 7–8	West Maegashira #7 10–5 T
2006	West Maegashira #1 5–10	West Maegashira #6 8–7	East Maegashira #4 5–10	East Maegashira #8 10–5	West Maegashira #2 7–8	East Maegashira #3 9–6
2007	East Maegashira #2 8–7	West Komusubi 7–8	West Maegashira #1 8–7	East Komusubi 7–8	East Maegashira #1 6–9	West Maegashira #3 9–6
2008	West Maegashira #1 6–9	East Maegashira #3 7–8	East Maegashira #4 6–9	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