| 栃乃洋 泰一 Tochinonada Taiichi |
|
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Born | Taiichi Gotō February 26, 1974 Ishikawa, Japan |
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 162 kg (360 lb; 25.5 st) |
| Career | |
| Heya | Kasugano |
| Current rank | see below |
| Debut | January 1996 |
| Highest rank | Sekiwake (March 2001) |
| Yūshō | 2 (Jūryō) |
| Sanshō | Outstanding Performance (3) Fighting Spirit (2) Technique (1) |
| Kinboshi | 12 (Akebono(3),Wakanohana(3), Musashimaru(3),Asashoryu(3)) |
| * Career information is correct as of Nov 2011. | |
Tochinonada Taiichi (栃乃洋 泰一 born February 26, 1974 as Taiichi Gotō) is a sumo wrestler from Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. A former amateur sumo champion, he turned professional in 1996 and has been ranked in the top makuuchi division since 1997. He has earned twelve kinboshi or gold stars for defeating yokozuna, the second highest ever. His highest rank has been sekiwake.
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Born in Nanao, he was a rival of fellow top division wrestler Dejima in elementary school.[1] He was an amateur sumo champion at Takushoku University, winning the College Yokozuna title. He joined Kasugano stable through a connection to Chigonoura Oyakata (the former sekiwake Masudayama), who was a fellow Takushoku University alumni and a coach at the stable, and made his professional debut in January 1996. Because of his amateur achievements he had makushita tsukedashi status, and so his debut tournament was in the third highest makushita division. He made the jūryō division in November 1996, switching from his family name of Gotō and adopting the shikona of Tochinonada. He was promoted to the top makuuchi division three tournaments later in May 1997.
Tochinonada had a strong start to his makuuchi career, earning special prizes for Fighting Spirit in consecutive tournaments in July and September 1997. He made his titled sanyaku debut that November at the rank of komusubi. However he could manage only six wins there and did not return to the sanyaku ranks until January 2001, when he made komusubi once again. He reached his highest rank of sekiwake in March 2001 and held it for two tournaments. He was runner-up in the January 2003 tournament, when he lost his first four matches but then rallied to win eleven in a row to finish three wins behind Asashoryu. He was also runner-up to Kaio in September 2004, where he also scored 11-4.
In May 1999 he injured ligaments in his left elbow in a match against Kaio and had to sit out the following tournament in July. He did not miss any more bouts until six years later in July 2005 when he injured his right thigh on the second day and missed the rest of the tournament.
During his long stay in the top division Tochinonada has earned twelve kinboshi or gold stars for defeating yokozuna while ranked as a maegashira, which places him equal second on the all time list, level with Takamiyama and behind only Akinoshima. His first kinboshi came in January 1998 when he defeated Akebono, and he earned his next three in three successive tournaments from May to September 1998. In November 2003 he defeated two yokozuna on two successive days, and was awarded the Outstanding Performance prize as well. He has defeated all the yokozuna he has met at least once, with the exception of Hakuhō (his victory over Takanohana was at sekiwake rank, meaning he was not eligible for a gold star on that occasion). In July 2008, he defeated Asashoryu, gaining his 12th kinboshi. He touched the ground before Asashoryu, but Asashoryu had already gone out of the ring, and was therefore shini-tai.[2]
Tochinonada won his 500th career match in July 2007, producing a strong 10-5 score. He was promoted up the rankings to maegashira 2 in September 2007 and fought his first yokozuna bout since May 2005 when he met Hakuhō on the 4th day. He had a win over ōzeki Kotoōshū but finished the tournament with a 4-11 record. In March 2008 he recovered from losing his first six bouts to win eight in a row and achieve kachi-koshi.
Tochinonada was an ever-present in the top division from May 1997 to November 2005, a run of 52 consecutive tournaments. After dropping to the second division he immediately won the jūryō yusho in January 2006 and was promoted straight back. After another run of 22 makuuchi tournaments he was demoted to the jūryō division again after the September 2009 tournament, and he has moved back and forth between the top two divisions since then. In the January 2011 tournament, Tochinonada managed a 7-0 start after 7 days, his best start to date, although he finished on 9-6. Following the retirement of Kaio in the July 2011 tournament he became the active wrestler with the most wins in the top division (556), but could not avoid demotion to juryo. In September he recorded his first ever make-koshi in the juryo division, scoring only 4-11.
Tochinonada is a yotsu-sumo wrestler, preferring grappling techniques that involve grabbing the opponent's mawashi. His favoured grip is hidari-yotsu (left hand inside, right hand outside), for which he is well known.[3] His most common winning kimarite is yori-kiri (force out) but he also regularly uses his preferred inside grip to win by shitatenage (underarm throw). He is also fond of oshi dashi (push out) and tsuki otoshi (thrust over).
In March 1999 he became the first wrestler ever to win by default two days in a row.[4] On Day 10 yokozuna Wakanohana withdrew, followed the next day by his brother Takanohana. However he did not receive a kinboshi for these victories.
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Makushita #60 6–1 |
West Makushita #31 6–1 |
East Makushita #13 4–3 |
West Makushita #7 6–1–PPP |
West Makushita #1 4–3 |
West Jūryō #13 13–2 Champion |
| 1997 | West Jūryō #4 10–5 |
East Jūryō #1 9–6 |
East Maegashira #16 9–6 |
East Maegashira #11 10–5 F |
East Maegashira #2 9–6 F |
East Komusubi 6–9 |
| 1998 | West Maegashira #2 7–8 ★ |
East Maegashira #3 9–6 |
East Maegashira #1 7–8 ★ |
West Maegashira #2 5–10 ★ |
East Maegashira #6 7–8 ★ |
West Maegashira #6 6–9 |
| 1999 | East Maegashira #9 8–7 |
West Maegashira #5 9–6 |
East Maegashira #2 3–9–3 ★ |
East Maegashira #8 Sat out due to injury 0–0–15 |
East Maegashira #8 5–10 |
West Maegashira #12 10–5 |
| 2000 | East Maegashira #4 6–9 ★ |
East Maegashira #6 9–6 |
East Maegashira #1 5–10 |
East Maegashira #3 7–8 |
West Maegashira #3 4–11 |
West Maegashira #7 10–5 |
| 2001 | West Komusubi 9–6 T |
West Sekiwake 8–7 O |
East Sekiwake 4–11 |
East Maegashira #3 6–9 |
West Maegashira #5 8–7 ★ |
West Maegashira #4 7–8 |
| 2002 | East Maegashira #6 8–7 |
East Maegashira #3 8–7 |
West Komusubi 7–8 |
East Maegashira #1 7–8 ★ |
West Maegashira #1 4–11 |
East Maegashira #6 6–9 |
| 2003 | East Maegashira #10 11–4 |
East Maegashira #2 9–6 |
East Maegashira #1 8–7 |
West Komusubi 7–8 |
West Maegashira #1 8–7 |
East Maegashira #1 8–7 O★★ |
| 2004 | East Komusubi 6–9 |
East Maegashira #3 8–7 |
East Maegashira #1 5–10 |
West Maegashira #6 9–6 |
West Maegashira #3 11–4 O★ |
West Komusubi 6–9 |
| 2005 | West Maegashira #1 5–10 |
West Maegashira #4 8–7 |
West Maegashira #2 5–10 |
West Maegashira #6 0–2–13 |
East Maegashira #17 7–8 |
West Maegashira #17 7–8 |
| 2006 | East Jūryō #1 13–2 Champion |
West Maegashira #12 8–7 |
West Maegashira #9 6–9 |
East Maegashira #12 10–5 |
East Maegashira #5 7–8 |
West Maegashira #5 7–8 |
| 2007 | West Maegashira #6 6–9 |
West Maegashira #9 7–8 |
West Maegashira #11 8–7 |
East Maegashira #9 10–5 |
East Maegashira #2 4–11 |
West Maegashira #7 8–7 |
| 2008 | West Maegashira #3 5–10 |
West Maegashira #8 8–7 |
East Maegashira #8 9–6 |
West Maegashira #3 7–8 ★ |
West Maegashira #4 6–9 |
West Maegashira #7 5–10 |
| 2009 | West Maegashira #10 8–7 |
East Maegashira #8 8–7 |
East Maegashira #5 5–10 |
West Maegashira #9 6–9 |
West Maegashira #12 4–11 |
East Jūryō #2 8–7 |
| 2010 | West Maegashira #15 5–10 |
West Jūryō #2 10–5 |
East Maegashira #14 3–12 |
East Jūryō #6 9–6 |
East Maegashira #14 8–7 |
West Maegashira #13 6–9 |
| 2011 | West Maegashira #16 9–6 |
West Maegashira #14 Tournament Cancelled 0–0–0 |
West Maegashira #14 6–9 |
West Maegashira #14 6–9 |
East Jūryō #1 4–11 |
East Jūryō #9 8–7 |
| 2012 | East 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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