| 松鳳山 裕也 Shōhōzan Yūya |
|
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Born | Yūya Matsutani February 9, 1984 Fukuoka prefecture, Japan |
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 133 kg (290 lb) |
| Career | |
| Heya | Matsugane |
| Current rank | see below |
| Debut | March, 2006 |
| Highest rank | Maegashira #8 (November, 2011) |
| Yūshō | 2 (Makushita) 1 (Jonidan) |
| * Career information is correct as of Dec 2011. | |
Shōhōzan Yūya (松鳳山 裕也) (born February 2, 1984 as Yūya Matsutani is a sumo wrestler from Chikujō, Fukuoka, Japan. The highest rank he has reached is maegashira 8.
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He played baseball and judo in his junior high school years, but on transferring to an industrial and science high school in nearby Oita prefecture he joined the sumo club after being scouted by the coach at the school. In his second and third years he participated two annual regional tournaments. In these tournaments, he managed to reach the best eight, but was beaten both times by the future Kotoshogiku. In Komazawa University, he was a regular on the sumo team and managed to be runner up for the championship at a national competition.
His successes at this level garnered him many invitations from various sumo stables but chose to enter Matsugane, the stable that first approached him. The words of the coach, the former Ozeki Wakashimazu, "Let's work together to defeat foreign wrestlers," filled him with determination and he soon joined the stable. He entered the professional ring in May, 2006. He was not able to achieve makushita tsukedashi status as he had never managed to win a national tournament before turning pro. He posted a decent jonokuchi debut with a 5-2 record. In the next tournament, he took the jonidan championship with a perfect 7-0 record and a playoff victory over fellow up-and-comer Sakaizawa. Three strong tournaments in sandanme got him promotion to the third makushita division in March, 2007. He had had a very strong showing up to this point, and had claimed he wanted to make makushita before the time for his hair to be tied up in a topknot came. He did achieve this goal, and though he started out strong with two consecutive 6-1 tournaments, as is often the case with wrestlers trying to advance through makushita, this is where he began to have trouble. He would struggle in the division for exactly three years. He began to find his stride in July, 2009. He achieved a 6-1 record and had a playoff bout against Fukao which he lost. His sumo would grow more consistent from this point and after four more tournaments in makushita in which he had only one losing tournament, he finally qualified for the second tier jūryō division for the May 2010 tournament. He was only the second wrestler in thirty-three years from Komazawa University to achieve promotion to jūryō.
In his sekitori debut Matsutani won 9 of 15 bouts and was promoted to jūryō #8 for the following tournament, but only managed a 6-9 record. His losing tournament would be the least of his concerns though. It was revealed on August 12, 2010 in a follow up to the June investigation into baseball gambling, that Matsugani, along with a sandanme wrestler from his stable had also been involved in gambling, but had not come forward, and had participated in the July, 2010 tournament while other wrestlers who were implicated or who admitted involvement had been suspended. He, along with his stablemate and his coach, apologized to the public in a press conference soon after. In September, the JSA handed down the decision not to dismiss the wrestlers, but to suspend them for two tournaments (September and November).
Upon his return in the first tournament of 2011 he had fallen to makushita #51. Seemingly burning to redeem himself, Matsutani pulled off a perfect 7-0 championship, and even with the turmoil due to the following tournament being cancelled due to the match-fixing scandal he still pulled off another another perfect championship in the succeeding May tournament. In many ways, this would mirror sekitori Toyonoshima's feat in previous months of bouncing back from a demotion to jūryō for baseball gambling by pulling off a championship in that tournament and almost pulling off a makuuchi championship in a playoff loss to Hakuhō in the following tournament. Matsutani would attain re-entry to jūryō at a career high #3. He only managed a 7-8 record, but in the following September tournament at jūryō #5 would bounce back with a convincing 11-4 winning tournament. On his November tournament top tier makuuchi debut he changed his shikona from his surname to the current Shōhōzan. He achieved a 10-5 record and will be at a career highest maegashira 8 for the first tournament of 2012.
He had become known for a having a very stern, almost scary visage, but in his jūryō entry interview people were surprised to learn he had a very expressive smiling face and a friendly way of talking. He even admitted to being sensitive enough to cry when he first heard of his jūryō entry.
Shōhōzan specialises in pushing and thrusting techniques, or oshi-sumo. His most common winning kimarite is oshi-dashi, or push out, followed by yori-kiri or force out.
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | x | (Maezumo) | West Jonokuchi #14 5–2 |
West Jonidan #90 7–0–P Champion |
West Sandanme #84 5–2 |
West Sandanme #52 6–1 |
| 2007 | East Sandanme #2 4–3 |
East Makushita #54 6–1 |
East Makushita #26 6–1 |
East Makushita #9 3–4 |
East Makushita #14 3–4 |
West Makushita #19 2–5 |
| 2008 | West Makushita #34 4–3 |
West Makushita #25 4–3 |
West Makushita #17 6–1 |
East Makushita #5 1–6 |
East Makushita #26 4–3 |
West Makushita #16 3–4 |
| 2009 | West Makushita #24 6–1 |
East Makushita #9 3–4 |
East Makushita #13 3–4 |
East Makushita #21 6–1–P |
East Makushita #7 4–3 |
West Makushita #5 3–4 |
| 2010 | West Makushita #7 6–1 |
East Makushita #1 4–3 |
East Jūryō #12 9–6 |
East Jūryō #8 6–9 |
East Jūryō #11 Suspended 0–0–15 |
West Makushita #11 Suspended 0–0–7 |
| 2011 | West Makushita #51 7–0 Champion |
Tournament Cancelled 0–0–0 |
West Makushita #4 7–0 Champion |
East Jūryō #3 7–8 |
East Jūryō #5 11–4 |
East Maegashira #15 10–5 |
| 2012 | East Maegashira #8 – |
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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