| 朝赤龍 太郎 Asasekiryū Tarō |
|
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Born | Badarchiin Dashnyam August 7, 1981 Ulan Bator, Mongolia |
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 141 kg (310 lb; 22.2 st) |
| Career | |
| Heya | Takasago, formerly Wakamatsu |
| Current rank | see below |
| Debut | January, 2000 |
| Highest rank | Sekiwake (September, 2007) |
| Yūshō | 1 (Jūryō) 1 (Jonidan) |
| Sanshō | Outstanding Performance (1) Fighting Spirit (1) Technique (2) |
| * Career information is correct as of Nov 2011. | |
Asasekiryū Tarō (born August 7, 1981 as Badarchiin Dashnyam, Mongolian: Бадарчийн Дашням, in Ulan Bator, Mongolia) is a sumo wrestler. He made his debut in January 2000, reaching the top division in March 2003. He has won four special prizes, and has spent a total of five tournaments to date in the titled sanyaku ranks. The highest rank he has reached is sekiwake.
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Asasekiryū first came to Japan in 1997 and fought his first professional sumo bout in January 2000, joining Wakamatsu stable (now Takasago stable). Yokozuna Asashōryū was a stablemate of his, and both men originally came to Japan as exchange students at Meitoku Gijuku High School and learnt the Japanese language before entering professional sumo. Asasekiryū often served as a tachimochi or sword bearer during Asashōryū's dohyō-iri or ring entering ceremony. His shikona or fighting name literally means morning red dragon, very similar to Asashoryu's morning blue dragon (in both cases, the Asa character is taken from his stablemaster's fighting name of Asashio, who was a classmate at Kinki University of Asashoryu and Asasekiryu's high school sumo coach).
Asasekiryū won the tournament championship or yusho in the jonidan division in May 2000 with a perfect 7-0 record. He earned promotion to the jūryō (second division) in July 2002, and to the top makuuchi division in March 2003, following his 11-4 score which won the jūryō championship or yusho.
He made little impact in the top division until March 2004, when he won his first twelve bouts, including a defeat of ōzeki Kaiō. He finished as tournament runner-up with a 13-2 record and earned two special prizes for Technique and Outstanding Performance. In May 2006 he scored ten wins at maegashira 2 and won the Fighting Spirit prize. He was promoted to komusubi for the July 2006 tournament, but was forced to withdraw partway through this basho due to injury and had some mixed results after that.
In May 2007, fighting from the mid maegashira ranks, he produced an outstanding 12-3 record. This gave him runner-up honours once again, and his second Technique prize. In July 2007 Asasekiryū had his first chance to fight a yokozuna and earn a gold star when he met new Yokozuna Hakuhō, as sumo rules prevented him from being matched against his stablemate Asashōryū. He lost, but the eight wins he managed in this tournament at maegashira 1 were enough to earn him promotion to sekiwake for September, his highest rank to date. He held his rank in that tournament, but after a disappointing 3-12 score in November 2007, he was demoted back to the maegashira ranks for the January 2008 tournament.
Asasekiryū produced two good performances in the first two tournaments of 2008. In January he scored ten wins and in March he defeated two ōzeki, and tournament runner-up Baruto to finish 8-7. This performance returned him to the titled sanyaku ranks for the May 2008 tournament, at komusubi. However he was unable to maintain his ranking, only scoring six wins against nine losses. He was again ranked at komusubi in September 2008, but turned in a poor 4-11 record. He has remained in the maegashira ranks since then, slipping as low as maegashira 12 in July 2009. He became his stable's top rikishi in February 2010, following the retirement of Asashōryū. He has continued to move up and down the division, reaching maegashira 1 in July 2010 but falling back to maegashira 9 by May 2011.
Asasekiryu is a yotsu-sumo (grappling) wrestler, preferring a migi-yotsu (left hand outside, right hand inside) grip on his opponent's mawashi or belt. His most common winning technique is a straightforward yori-kiri or force out. He is also fond of throws, most often employing uwatenage (outer arm throw) and uwatedashinage (pulling outer arm throw).[1]
His father was a Mongolian wrestler, holding a rank roughly equivalent to sumo's komusubi.
| year in sumo | January Hatsu basho, Tokyo |
March Haru basho, Osaka |
May Natsu basho, Tokyo |
July Nagoya basho, Nagoya |
September Aki basho, Tokyo |
November Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | (Maezumo) | West Jonokuchi #34 6–1 |
East Jonidan #80 7–0–P Champion |
East Sandanme #72 5–2 |
East Sandanme #45 6–1 |
East Makushita #56 4–3 |
| 2001 | West Makushita #47 5–2 |
West Makushita #32 3–4 |
East Makushita #41 5–2 |
East Makushita #27 6–1 |
East Makushita #10 4–3 |
East Makushita #7 3–4 |
| 2002 | East Makushita #12 5–2 |
East Makushita #6 5–2 |
West Makushita #1 5–2 |
West Jūryō #11 6–9 |
East Jūryō #13 10–5 |
East Jūryō #8 10–5 |
| 2003 | West Jūryō #1 11–4–P Champion |
East Maegashira #10 6–9 |
West Maegashira #13 8–7 |
West Maegashira #9 10–5 |
East Maegashira #4 7–8 |
West Maegashira #4 3–12 |
| 2004 | East Maegashira #12 7–8 |
West Maegashira #12 13–2 OT |
East Maegashira #2 3–12 |
West Maegashira #10 11–4 |
East Maegashira #4 4–11 |
East Maegashira #10 7–8 |
| 2005 | East Maegashira #11 8–7 |
West Maegashira #9 8–7 |
West Maegashira #8 8–7 |
West Maegashira #7 6–7–2 |
East Maegashira #10 6–2–7 |
West Maegashira #12 9–6 |
| 2006 | West Maegashira #4 5–10 |
West Maegashira #8 10–5 |
East Maegashira #2 10–5 F |
East Komusubi #1 1–2–12 |
West Maegashira #9 7–8 |
West Maegashira #9 10–5 |
| 2007 | East Maegashira #6 10–5 |
West Maegashira #2 4–11 |
West Maegashira #8 12–3 T |
West Maegashira #1 8–7 |
West Sekiwake 8–7 |
West Sekiwake 3–12 |
| 2008 | West Maegashira #4 10–5 |
East Maegashira #1 8–7 |
West Komusubi 6–9 |
East Maegashira #2 8–7 |
West Komusubi 4–11 |
East Maegashira #5 5–10 |
| 2009 | East Maegashira #8 6–9 |
East Maegashira #11 9–6 |
East Maegashira #7 5–10 |
East Maegashira #12 9–6 |
East Maegashira #6 6–9 |
East Maegashira #10 8–7 |
| 2010 | West Maegashira #8 6–9 |
East Maegashira #11 10–5 |
West Maegashira #4 9–6 |
West Maegashira #1 4–11 |
West Maegashira #6 9–6 |
West Maegashira #2 6–9 |
| 2011 | West Maegashira #5 6–9 |
West Maegashira #9 Tournament Cancelled 0–0–0 |
West Maegashira #9 7–8 |
West Maegashira #9 6–9 |
West Maegashira #12 7–8 |
West Maegashira #13 6–9 |
| 2012 | East Maegashira #15 – |
x | x | x | x | x |
| Record given as win-loss-absent Top Division Champion Retired Lower Divisions Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique Also shown: ★=Kinboshi(s) P=Playoff(s) |
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