| 豊響 隆太 Toyohibiki Ryūta |
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|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Born | Ryūta Kadomoto November 16, 1984 Yamaguchi, Japan |
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Weight | 173 kg (380 lb; 27.2 st) |
| Career | |
| Heya | Sakaigawa |
| Current rank | see below |
| Debut | January, 2005 |
| Highest rank | Maegashira 2 (November, 2008) |
| Yūshō | 2 (Jūryō) 1 (Jonidan) |
| Sanshō | Fighting Spirit (3) |
| * Career information is correct as of Nov 2011. | |
Toyohibiki Ryūta (born November 16, 1984 as Ryūta Kadomoto) is a sumo wrestler from Toyoura, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. He turned professional in 2005, reaching the top division in July 2007. He has earned two special prizes for Fighting Spirit. His highest rank has been maegashira 2. He wrestles for Sakaigawa stable.
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Toyohibiki made his professional debut in January 2005, initially fighting under his own surname of Kadamoto. He won the jonidan championship in his second full tournament with a perfect 7-0 record. He recorded only one make-koshi or losing score on his way to elite sekitori status, which he achieved two years after his debut, upon promotion to the jūryō division in January 2007. To mark the occasion he adopted his present shikona of Toyohibiki. He won the jūryō championship in his debut tournament with a 10-5 record, and reached the top makuuchi division for the first time in July 2007.
Toyohibiki produced a strong 11-4 record on his debut in makuuchi and was awarded the Fighting Spirit prize. One of the heaviest men in the division at 173 kg (380 lb), he is a wrestler with great power but he also has suspect footwork. In the next four tournaments after his top division debut, he did not manage a majority of wins against losses. His 5-10 score in the March 2008 tournament, after losing to his first seven opponents, sent him to the bottom of makuuchi and placed him in danger of demotion from the top division altogether. In May 2008 he won six of his first seven bouts and though he stumbled rather through the rest of the tournament he did finally record a winning score of 8-7. In July 2008 he was on the tournament leaderboard into the second week and finished on 10-5, winning his second Fighting Spirit Prize. In November 2008 he reached his highest rank to date of maegashira 2, but he had to sit out the tournament due to a detached retina in his left eye.
Toyohibiki returned to action in January 2009 but could win only five bouts, resulting in demotion back to the jūryō division. He bounced back with a 12 - 3 victory in the jūryō division in the Haru basho in Osaka on March 29, 2009, his second yusho in the division, which returned him immediately to makuuchi. He produced a strong 11-4 record at maegashira 11 in the May 2009 tournament, and was promoted back to maegashira 2 for the July tourney.
In the January 2010 tournament he broke a run of three consecutive make-koshi that had seen him slip to maegashira 16 by finishing joint runner-up (alongside Hakuho and Baruto) on 12-3, and he was awarded the Fighting Spirit prize for the third time.
He is from Sakaigawa stable, which has three other wrestlers with top division experience, Iwakiyama, Hōchiyama and Gōeidō, the last of whom joined at the same time as him.
Toyohibiki was one of seven wrestlers who NHK commentator Shuhei Nagao (the former Mainoumi) called the "Seven Samurai" and identified as "holding the key" to a Japanese resurgence in sumo, which is currently dominated by foreigners in the top ranks.[1] The others were his stablemate Gōeidō, Kisenosato, Kotoshogiku, Homasho, Toyonoshima and Tochiozan.
He was suspended along with over a dozen other wrestlers from the July 2010 tournament after admitting involvement in illegal betting on baseball. As a result, he fell to the jūryō division in September. After two tournaments in the second division he returned to makuuchi in January 2011.
Toyohibiki favours pushing techniques, using his weight to his best advantage. Of the 44 matches he won between July 2007 and May 2008, 24 were by oshi-dashi, or a simple push out.[2] He is not fond of grips on the mawashi, winning only three bouts by yori-kiri or force out during the same period.
| 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 | (Maezumo) | East Jonokuchi #32 5–2 |
East Jonidan #94 7–0 Champion |
West Sandanme #86 6–1 |
West Sandanme #29 5–2 |
East Sandanme #7 6–1 |
| 2006 | West Makushita #32 3–4 |
East Makushita #40 6–1 |
East Makushita #17 4–3 |
East Makushita #12 5–2 |
East Makushita #8 5–2 |
West Makushita #3 4–3 |
| 2007 | East Jūryō #14 10–5–PPP Champion |
West Jūryō #8 8–7 |
West Jūryō #6 10–5 |
West Maegashira #14 11–4 F |
East Maegashira #6 7–8 |
East Maegashira #7 7–8 |
| 2008 | West Maegashira #8 6–9 |
East Maegashira #11 5–10 |
West Maegashira #15 8–7 |
East Maegashira #13 10–5 F |
East Maegashira #5 8–7 |
East Maegashira #2 Sat out due to injury 0–0–15 |
| 2009 | East Maegashira #14 5–10 |
West Jūryō #3 12–3 Champion |
West Maegashira #11 11–4 |
West Maegashira #2 3–12 |
West Maegashira #9 6–9 |
West Maegashira #12 5–10 |
| 2010 | West Maegashira #16 12–3 F |
East Maegashira #5 4–11 |
West Maegashira #8 8–7 |
West Maegashira #6 Suspended 0–0–15 |
West Jūryō #3 7–8 |
West Jūryō #4 11–4–PP |
| 2011 | West Maegashira #15 9–6 |
West Maegashira #12 Tournament Cancelled 0–0–0 |
West Maegashira #12 7–8 |
West Maegashira #12 8–7 |
West Maegashira #8 6–9 |
East Maegashira #11 9–6 |
| 2012 | West Maegashira #5 – |
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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