Wakakirin Shinichi

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若麒麟真一
Wakakirin Shinichi
Personal information

Birth name	Shinichi Suzukawa
Date of birth	September 21, 1983 (1983-09-21) (age 24)
Place of birth	Kawanishi, Hyogo, Japan
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	125 kg (280 lb)
Career*
Heya	Oguruma, formerly Oshiogawa
Current rank	Jūryō 1
Record	248-203-22
Debut	March, 1999
Highest rank	Maegashira 9 (January, 2008)
Yusho	2 (Makushita)
* Career information is correct as of May 2008.

Wakakirin Shinichi (born September 21, 1983 as Shinichi Suzukawa) is a sumo wrestler from Hyogo prefecture in Japan. His highest rank has been maegashira 9.

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

[edit] Career

Born in Kawanishi, he made his professional debut in March 1999. He is the fourth wrestler from that class to make the top division, following Kotomitsuki, Takamisakari and Hamanishiki, but the first to do so after making his debut at the lowest level of sumo entry, mae-zumo. He joined Oshiogawa stable. He began competing under his own surname, but upon reaching the second highest jūryō division for the first time in July 2004 his stablemaster Oshiogawa Oyakata honoured him with the name of Wakakirin. The "Kirin" part of his name, meaning giraffe or qilin, had only been given to three previous wrestlers: his own stablemaster (former ōzeki Daikirin), former sekiwake Kirinji, and Tamakirin, who quit sumo to become a professional wrestler.

Wakakirin scored an impressive ten wins in his jūryō debut, but in January 2005 he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury that forced him to sit out two tournaments, resulting in demotion back to the unsalaried makushita division. The injury reduced the effectiveness of his favoured tsuppari, or thrusting techniques, and although he returned to the second division in January 2006 he could manage only four wins and was immediately demoted once again. He slowly returned to full fitness and after a series of solid performances he took his second makushita championship in May 2007 with a perfect 7-0 record from the rank of makushita 3, to earn promotion back to jūryō. After scores of 10-5 in July and 9-6 in September, he was promoted to the top makuuchi division for the November 2007 tournament. He achieved ten wins in his top division debut, a feat that normally wins the Fighting Spirit Award, but he missed out, the prize going to Baruto instead. Disappointing scores of 4-11 in January 2008 and 6-9 in March 2008 meant he was demoted back to the jūryō division for the May tournament. He missed out on a kachi-koshi winning score on the final day in May 2008, falling to 7-8.

In April 2005 Oshiogawa stable was absorbed into Oguruma stable, in anticipation of Oshiogawa Oyakata's retirement the following year. Wakakirin is the third member of Oguruma stable to make his top division debut, following Takekaze and Yoshikaze.

[edit] Top division record

Wakakirin Shinichi ^[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
2007	x	x	x	x	x	West Maegashira #15 10–5
2008	West Maegashira #9 4–11	East Maegashira #15 6–9	(Jūryō)	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