Nankairyū Tarō

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南海龍太郎
Nankairyū Tarō
Personal information
Born Kiriful Saba
(1965-02-22) February 22, 1965
Apia, Samoa
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 153 kg (337 lb)
Career
Stable Takasago
Record 139-93-16
Debut September, 1984
Highest rank Maegashira 2 (May, 1988)
Retired November, 1988
* Career information is correct as of August 2007.

Nankairyū Tarō (born 22 February 1965 as Kiriful Saba) is a former sumo wrestler from Samoa. His highest rank was maegashira 2.

Career

Born in Apia, Western Samoa, he joined Takasago stable in 1984. He was given the fighting name of Nankairyū, or "South Seas dragon." In November 1987 he became the third non Asian sumo wrestler, after Takamiyama and Konishiki, to reach the top makuuchi division. In May 1988 he reached his highest rank of maegashira 2 and upset ozeki Hokuten'yū. He also looked to have defeated yokozuna Ōnokuni but a rematch was called, which he lost.

Nankairyū was a heavy drinker, and received adverse publicity after he got into a confrontation with a hotel clerk while drunk in July 1987.[1] His problem was made worse by the fact that he spoke neither English nor Japanese well and consequently had difficulty making himself understood to the Japanese media.[1] During the tournament of September 1988 he had a heated argument with his stable boss, former yokozuna Asashio Tarō III and fled the stable, never to return. His stablemaster died of a stroke just a few weeks later.[1]

After sumo

Nankairyū became a professional wrestler for New Japan in 1990.

Career record

Nankairyū Tarō[2]
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
1984 x x x x (Maezumo) West Jonokuchi #40
5–2
 
1985 West Jonidan #124
6–1
 		 East Jonidan #51
7–0–P
 		 West Sandanme #62
6–1
 		 West Sandanme #18
2–5
 		 West Sandanme #49
3–4
 		 East Sandanme #62
6–1
 
1986 East Sandanme #17
4–3
 		 West Sandanme #3
6–1
 		 West Makushita #33
3–4
 		 West Makushita #45
4–3
 		 West Makushita #30
5–2
 		 East Makushita #16
6–1
 
1987 West Makushita #3
4–3
 		 West Makushita #2
4–3
 		 West Jūryō #13
10–5
 		 East Jūryō #8
9–6
 		 East Jūryō #4
11–4
 		 West Maegashira #12
8–7
 
1988 East Maegashira #12
8–7
 		 East Maegashira #8
9–6
 		 West Maegashira #2
6–9
 		 East Maegashira #5
7–8
 		 West Maegashira #5
6–8–1
 		 East Maegashira #9
Retired
0–0
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)
Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi

Makuuchi ranks: Yokozuna — Ōzeki — Sekiwake — Komusubi — Maegashira

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Sharnoff, Lora (1993). Grand Sumo. Weatherhill. ISBN 0-8348-0283-x. 
  2. ↑ "Nankairyu Taro Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 2013-04-14. 

External links

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