| 玉飛鳥 大輔 Tamaasuka Daisuke |
|
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Born | Daisuke Takahashi January 26, 1983 Aichi, Japan |
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Weight | 144 kg (320 lb; 22.7 st) |
| Career | |
| Heya | Kataonami |
| Current rank | see below |
| Debut | March 1998 |
| Highest rank | Maegashira 9 (September, 2005) |
| Yūshō | 1 (Jūryō) 2 (Makushita) |
| * Career information is correct as of Nov 2011. | |
Tamaasuka Daisuke (born January 26, 1983 as Daisuke Takahashi) is a sumo wrestler from Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. His highest rank has been maegashira 9. After falling from the top division in 2005 through injury, he won promotion back in 2009.
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Born in Atsuta, he started sumo in the fourth grade of elementary school.[1] He was enrolled by his father in the Choyko Sumo Club, based in the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium where the annual Nagoya honbasho is held.[1] At Hibino Middle School, he became Middle School Yokozuna in 1997. He made his professional debut in March 1998, joining Tamanoi stable. Just weeks beforehand, his father had died of a heart attack.[1] It had been he who had chosen Tamaasuka's shikona and had driven him to become a rikishi by installing a rigorous training program for him. His father's death only made Tamaasuka more determined to succeed in professional sumo.[1]
After six years of steady but unspectacular progress in the lower ranks, Tamaasuka was promoted to the second highest jūryō division in November 2004 after winning the makushita championship with a perfect 7-0 record. In his jūryō debut he scored eight wins against seven losses by winning and then losing on alternate days, an oddity not seen in the top two divisions since 1988.[1] He reached the top makuuchi division in the Nagoya tournament in July 2005, making his debut alongside Hakurozan. He was the first wrestler from Nagoya to reach the top division since Tochitsukasa in 1981.[1]
Cheered on by his hometown fans, Tamaasuka scored nine wins in his top division debut. He would have received the Kantosho or Fighting Spirit prize had he won on the final day, but he was defeated by Tokitenku.[1] He was promoted to maegashira 9, but could only manage a disappointing 4-11 record in the next tournament. On the fourth day of the November 2005 tournament he broke his left ankle and was forced to pull out. As a result, he was demoted back to the jūryō division. It was the first time in his career that he had missed any bouts. Since he had an enforced layoff, he decided to undergo eyesight corrective surgery in December 2005.[2] He had not fully recovered from either his injury or his surgery by the January 2006 tournament but felt he had to compete to try to prevent demotion to the unsalaried makushita division. However, in the event he withdrew once again after losing his first two bouts. He largely remained in the third division for the next three years.
In May 2008 he won his second makushita division championship, once more with a perfect 7-0 record. This performance returned him to the sekitori ranks for the first time since November 2006. His return was not successful however, as he could only manage a 5-10 score at jūryō 13. He returned to the jūryō division once again for the November 2008 tournament; a 6-1 score at the rank of Makushita 4 East elevating him to jūryō 8. Although he turned in 5-10 again, it was enough on this occasion to keep him in the division. However a further 5-10 score in January 2009 saw him demoted once again. He scored 6-1 in March 2009, losing a playoff for the makushita division championship, which was enough for an immediate return to jūryō.
In May 2009 he not only made his first kachi-koshi at a sekitori rank in nearly four years but won his first jūryō championship with a 12-3 record. He followed up with another strong 11-4 record in July 2009, ensuring himself of a return to the top division for the first time in nearly four years. The 23 tournaments it took him to win back promotion is the fourth longest ever, behind Wakanoyama, Daihi and Daizen. In the September 2009 tournament, fighting from the maegashira 13 ranking, he recovered from 3-9 to win his last three matches and stay in the top division. He was forced to withdraw from the following tournament in November, his first absence since January 2006, after injuring his right ankle and he fell back to jūryō as a result. He won promotion back to the top division for July 2010 after a 10-5 score in May, but could manage only five wins on his return. Two poor performances of 5-10 and 4-11 saw him demoted to makushita for the first time since January 2009 after the November 2010 tournament, but he won promotion back to the sekitori ranks immediately.
In September 2011 Tamaasuka was promoted back to makuuchi after scoring 8-7 at Juryo 1 West in the preceding July tournament. He thus became the second wrestler (after Wakanoyama) to twice achieve the feat of returning to makuuchi after dropping to makushita.
Tammasuka is proficient in both yotsu-sumo (grappling) and oshi-sumo (pushing and thrusting) techniques. He uses oshi techniques at the beginning of a match to set up his preferred yotsu position, a basic sumo style.[1] His favoured grip on his opponent's mawashi is hidari-yotsu, a right hand outside, left hand inside position. His most often used winning kimarite is yori-kiri (force out), followed by oshi-dashi (push 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | x | x | x | East Maegashira #14 9–6 |
West Maegashira #9 4–11 |
West Maegashira #15 0–5–10 |
| 2006 | West Jūryō #9 0–3–12 |
East Makushita #10 5–2 |
East Makushita #6 4–3 |
West Makushita #4 4–3 |
East Makushita #3 5–2 |
West Jūryō #14 7–8 |
| 2007 | West Makushita #1 3–4 |
West Makushita #4 3–4 |
East Makushita #8 5–2 |
East Makushita #5 3–4 |
West Makushita #8 2–5 |
West Makushita #16 3–4 |
| 2008 | East Makushita #25 3–4 |
West Makushita #31 6–1 |
West Makushita #12 7–0 Champion |
East Jūryō #13 5–10 |
East Makushita #4 6–1 |
East Jūryō #8 5–10 |
| 2009 | West Jūryō #13 5–10 |
East Makushita #5 6–1–P |
West Jūryō #13 12–3 Champion |
West Jūryō #1 11–4 |
East Maegashira #13 6–9 |
East Maegashira #16 3–5–7 |
| 2010 | East Jūryō #7 5–10 |
East Jūryō #13 11–4–P |
East Jūryō #4 10–5 |
East Maegashira #16 5–10 |
West Jūryō #4 5–10 |
West Jūryō #10 4–11 |
| 2011 | West Makushita #2 4–3 |
West Jūryō #12 Tournament Cancelled 0–0–0 |
West Jūryō #12 8–7 |
West Jūryō #1 8–7 |
West Maegashira #13 4–11 |
East Jūryō #4 5–10 |
| 2012 | West Jūryō #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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