Toyonoshima Daiki
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Birth name | Daiki Kajiwara | |
| Date of birth | June 26, 1983 | |
| Place of birth | Sukumo, Kōchi, Japan | |
| Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) | |
| Weight | 137 kg (300 lb) | |
| Web presence | website | |
| Career* | ||
| Heya | Tokitsukaze | |
| Current rank | Maegashira 5 | |
| Record | 258-208-0 | |
| Debut | January, 2002 | |
| Highest rank | Komusubi (May, 2007) | |
| Yusho | 1 (Jūryō) 1 (Jonidan) 1 (Jonokuchi) |
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| Special Prizes | Fighting Spirit (2) Technique (1) Outstanding Performance (1) |
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| Gold stars | 1 (Hakuhō) | |
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* Career information is correct as of May 2008. |
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Toyonoshima Daiki (born June 26, 1983 as Daiki Kajiwara) is a professional sumo wrestler from Sukumo, Kōchi, Japan. The highest rank he has reached is komusubi.
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[edit] Career
Toyonoshima is the oldest son of a tofu maker. In his early years, he was an avid soccer player. However, his destiny changed after winning an area boys' sumo tournament championship. After graduating from high school, he joined Tokitsukaze stable through a connection a friend of his father's had with the stable.
On entering the sumo world, Toyonoshima rose quickly through the lower ranks of sumo, winning two championships in the jonokuchi and jonidan divisions with perfect 7-0 records. Upon reaching the top makuuchi division he initially had little success and was demoted to jūryō twice. However, after winning the jūryō championship in September of 2005, his fortunes began to turn and after some initial struggles, he has risen steadily through the ranks of makuuchi to his current position.[1]
The highlight of his career to date came in January 2007 when he finished as runner up to Yokozuna Asashōryū with an outstanding 12-3 record and earned his first special prizes for Fighting Spirit and Technique. In March he defeated two ōzeki, Kotoōshū and Chiyotaikai, and earned promotion to komusubi for May. However before the tournament began he sprained his knee and ankle ligaments in a practice session with Asashōryū at his heya[2] and could only manage four wins in his sanyaku (titled rank) debut.
In September 2007 Toyonoshima became the first maegashira to defeat Hakuhō since his promotion to yokozuna, earning his first kinboshi. He also defeated ōzeki Kotoōshū and Kotomitsuki. He finished with an 8-7 score and was awarded the Outstanding Performance prize. He achieved another winning record in the next tournament but faltered slightly with two 6-9 scores in January and March 2008. In May, however, he was on the leaderboard for much of the tournament and finished with joint runner-up honours and a share of the Fighting Spirit prize, virtually guaranteeing his return to the sanyaku ranks.
In junior high and high school, Toyonoshima was rivals with another future sumo wrestler who would go on to take the fighting name Kotoshōgiku. Kotoshōgiku is now his rival in professional sumo as well, having achieved parity with him at the same rank of komusubi in the 2007 May Tournament.[3]
Toyonoshima is just 168cm, or 5ft 6in tall. He is the shortest wrestler to make komusubi in fifty years.[4]
[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 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | x | x | x | x | West Maegashira #15 6–9 |
(Jūryō) |
| 2005 | East Maegashira #17 8–7 |
East Maegashira #13 7–8 |
West Maegashira #13 6–9 |
East Maegashira #16 6–9 |
(Jūryō) | East Maegashira #8 7–8 |
| 2006 | West Maegashira #9 7–8 |
West Maegashira #10 6–9 |
East Maegashira #13 8–7 |
East Maegashira #11 9–6 |
West Maegashira #6 4–11 |
West Maegashira #10 8–7 |
| 2007 | West Maegashira #9 12–3 TF |
West Maegashira #1 8–7 |
East Komusubi 4–11 |
West Maegashira #4 7–8 |
East Maegashira #5 8–7 O★ |
East Maegashira #4 9–6 |
| 2008 | East Maegashira #2 6–9 |
West Maegashira #3 6–9 |
West Maegashira #5 11–4 F |
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
- ^ "豊ノ島" (Japanese). ja.wikipedia.org (2007). Retrieved on 2007-06-09.
- ^ New komusubi Toyonoshima to take part in tourney (English). Japan Today (2007-05-10). Retrieved on 2007-06-09.
- ^ "豊ノ島" (Japanese). ja.wikipedia.org (2007). Retrieved on 2007-06-09.
- ^ Hardy, James (2007-05-13). Summer Grand Sumo Tournament Preview (English). Daily Yomiuri Online. Retrieved on 2007-06-09.
- ^ Rikishi in Juryo and Makunouchi (English). szumo.hu. Retrieved on 2007-09-23.
