Toyohibiki Ryūta

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豊響隆太
Toyohibiki Ryūta
Personal information

Birth name	Ryūta Kadomoto
Date of birth	November 16, 1984 (1984-11-16) (age 23)
Place of birth	Yamaguchi, Japan
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	173 kg (380 lb)
Career*
Heya	Sakaigawa
Current rank	Maegashira 15
Record	128-84-0
Debut	January, 2005
Highest rank	Maegashira 6 (September, 2007)
Yusho	1 (Jūryō) 1 (Jonidan)
Special Prizes	Fighting Spirit (1)
* Career information is correct as of May 2008.

Toyohibiki Ryūta (born November 16, 1984 as Ryūta Kadomoto) is a sumo wrestler from Toyoura, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan.

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

[edit] Career

Toyohibiki made his professional debut in January 2005, initially fighting under his own surname of Kadamoto. He won the jonidan champinship in his second full tournament with a perfect 7-0 record. He recorded only one make-koshi or losing score on his way to elite sekitori status, which he achieved two years after his debut, upon promotion to the juryo division in January 2007. To mark the occasion he adopted his present shikona of Toyohibiki. He won the juryo championship in his debut tournament with a 10-5 record, and reached the top makuuchi division for the first time in July 2007.

Toyohibiki produced a strong 11-4 record on his debut in makuuchi and was awarded the Fighting Spirit prize. One of the heaviest men in the division at 173 kg (380 lb), he is a wrestler with great power but he also has suspect footwork. In the next four tournaments after his top division debut, he did not manage a majority of wins against losses. His 5-10 score in the March 2008 tournament, after losing to his first seven opponents, sent him to the bottom of makuuchi and placed him in danger of demotion from the top division altogether. In May 2008 he won six of his first seven bouts and though he stumbled rather through the rest of the tournament he did finally record a winning score of 8-7.

He is from Sakaigawa stable, which has three other wrestlers with top division experience, Iwakiyama, Hōchiyama and Gōeidō.

Toyohibiki was one of seven wrestlers who NHK commentator Shuhei Nagao (the former Mainoumi) called the "Seven Samurai" and identified as "holding the key" to a Japanese resurgence in sumo, which is currently dominated by foreigners in the top ranks. ^[1] The others were his stablemate Gōeidō, Kisenosato, Kotoshogiku, Homasho, Toyonoshima and Tochiozan.

He favours pushing techniques, using his weight to his best advantage. Of the 44 matches he won between July 2007 and May 2008, 24 were by oshi-dashi, or a simple push out.^[2] He is not fond of grips on the mawashi, winning only three bouts by yori-kiri or force out during the same period.

[edit] Top division record

Toyohibiki Ryūta ^[3]
	January Hatsu basho, Tokyo	March Haru basho, Osaka	May Natsu basho, Tokyo	July Nagoya basho, Nagoya	September Aki basho, Tokyo	November Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka
2007	x	x	x	West Maegashira #14 11–4 F	East Maegashira #6 7–8	East Maegashira #7 7–8
2008	West Maegashira #8 6–9	East Maegashira #11 5–10	West Maegashira #15 8–7	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