Towanoyama Yoshimitsu
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Birth name | Akihito Kobayashi | |
| Date of birth | July 10, 1977 | |
| Place of birth | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 31⁄2 in) | |
| Weight | 197 kg (430 lb) | |
| Career* | ||
| Heya | Dewanoumi | |
| Current rank | Makushita 21 | |
| Record | 371-282-68 | |
| Debut | November, 1993 | |
| Highest rank | Maegashira 13 (March, 2002) | |
| Yusho | 2 (Makushita) | |
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* Career information is correct as of May 2008. |
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Towanoyama Yoshimitsu (born July 10, 1977 as Akihito Kobayashi) is a sumo wrestler from Toshima, Toyko, Japan. His highest rank has been maegashira 13. He has had many injury problems and has had perhaps the unluckiest (and shortest) top division career of any wrestler in sumo.
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[edit] Career
Towanoyama made his professional debut in November 1993, joining Dewanoumi stable straight from high school. At the time Dewanoumi stable was extremely strong and he had many powerful training partners. He served as a personal attendant to such top division men as Kushimaumi, Oginohana and Oginishiki. In March 1999 he won the makushita division championship with a perfect 7-0 record and earned promotion to the second highest juryo division, becoming an elite sekitori wrestler. He suffered an injury to his right ankle which required surgery and affected his performances, resulting in demotion back to makushita after only four tournaments. However in May 2001 he won his second makushita championship and returned to the second division. A strong 11-4 record in January 2002 earned him promotion to the top makuuchi division, alongside Shimotori.
At the time Towanoyama was the heaviest Japanese wrestler in sumo, weighing over 200 kilos. He was the highest ranked wrestler in his stable and was able to use his immense weight to good advantage. However, on the day of his first match in the top division in March 2002, he injured his knee in training and was forced to pull out of the tournament without participating in a single bout.[1] He has not got back to the top division since. After winning only five bouts in the next tournament he fell to makushita once again. He was able to return to the juryo division in November 2003, but on the tenth day of the March 2004 tournament, whilst trying to force a throwing move against Wakakosho, he fell badly and tore his patella tendon.[1] He was hospitalised for four months, requiring transplant surgery for thigh tendons. He missed five tournaments in a row, which meant he fell greatly in rank, ending up in the second lowest jonidan division. After rehabilitation and weight training programs he returned to the ring in March 2005 and has made his way slowly back up the rankings since then. He has been ranked in the in the third makushita division since July 2006 but has yet to regain sekitori status.
If Towanoyama finishes his career without returning to the top division, he will be the first wrestler since 1926 to have been ranked in the top division without winning any bouts there.
[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 | West Maegashira #13 0–1–14 |
(Jūryō) | (Makushita) | (Makushita) | (Makushita) |
| 2003 | (Makushita) | (Makushita) | (Makushita) | (Makushita) | (Makushita) | (Jūryō) |
| 2004 | (Jūryō) | (Jūryō) | (Jūryō) | (Makushita) | (Makushita) | (Sandanme) |
| 2005 | (Sandanme) | (Jonidan) | (Jonidan) | (Jonidan) | (Sandanme) | (Sandanme) |
| 2006 | (Makushita) | (Sandanme) | (Sandanme) | (Makushita) | (Makushita) | (Makushita) |
| 2007 | (Makushita) | (Makushita) | (Makushita) | (Makushita) | (Makushita) | (Makushita) |
| 2008 | (Makushita) | (Makushita) | (Makushita) | 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 Lower Division Rikishi. sumofanmag.com (August 2006). Retrieved on 2007-07-12.
- ^ Rikishi in Juryo and Makunouchi (English). szumo.hu. Retrieved on 2007-07-12.
