Takatōriki Tadashige

貴闘力 忠茂
Takatōriki Tadashige
Personal information
Born Tadashige Kamakiri
September 28, 1967
Kobe, Japan
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 12 in)
Weight 147 kg (324 lb)
Career
Stable Fujishima -> Futagoyama
Record 754-703-0
Debut March, 1983
Highest rank Sekiwake (September, 1991)
Retired September, 2002
Championships 1 (Makuuchi)
1 (Makushita)
Special Prizes Outstanding Performance (3)
Fighting Spirit (10)
Technique (1)
Gold Stars 9 (Ōnokuni (1),Asahifuji (1),
Akebono (7))
* Up to date as of October 2007.

Takatōriki Tadashige (born September 28, 1967 as Tadashige Kamakiri) is a former sumo wrestler from Kobe, Japan. He made his professional debut in 1983, reaching the top division in 1990. His highest rank was sekiwake. Known for his great fighting spirit, he won 14 tournament prizes, including a record ten Kantō-shō, and earned nine gold stars for defeating yokozuna ranked wrestlers. He wrestled for the highly successful Futagoyama stable. He was twice runner-up in top division tournaments and in March 2000, from the maegashira ranks, he unexpectedly won the yūshō or championship. He retired in 2002 and became the head coach of Ōtake stable, having married the daughter of the previous owner of the heya, the great yokozuna Taihō. However, he was dismissed from the Sumo Association in 2010 for his role in an illegal gambling scandal.

Career

As a young boy Takatōriki idolised Takanohana Kenshi and even stayed with the former ōzeki and his family in Tokyo for a while.[1] He joined Takanohana's Fujishima stable in March 1983 after leaving junior high school, where he had also done judo.[1] Initially fighting under his own surname of Kamakari, he rose up the ranks rather slowly, finally becoming a sekitori in May 1989 after six years in the unsalaried divisions.

Takatōriki reached the top makuuchi division in September 1990, along with future yokozuna Akebono and Wakanohana III. He won eleven bouts and the Fighting spirit prize in his top division debut, and in his next tournament he defeated his first yokozuna, Ōnokuni. He had a very successful year in 1991, becoming the only man in the top division to achieve a winning record in every tournament that year. On the third day of the May 1991 tournament, he defeated yokozuna Chiyonofuji, who announced his retirement that night. In July 1991 he was promoted to sekiwake, the highest rank he was to achieve. He won fourteen sanshō, or special prizes in his career, the fourth best ever. He earned seven kinboshi from Akebono, a record against one yokozuna (Takamiyama also earned seven from Wajima). He was runner-up in the tournaments of March 1994 (losing in a three-way playoff that also involved Akebono and stablemate Takanonami) and September 1996.

Towards the end of his career, in March 2000 at the age of 32, he won his only top division yūshō, or tournament title.[2] This win was considered a great upset as two poor performances had sent him down to maegashira 14 in the rankings, and Takatōriki faced demotion from makuuchi altogether. He won his first twelve matches, and though he was then defeated by yokozuna Akebono and Musashimaru, he clinched the championship by beating Miyabiyama to finish on 13-2. After his final bout, confirming his tournament win, Takatoriki was visibly shaken. He was awarded his tenth Fighting Spirit Prize (two ahead of his nearest rival, stablemate Akinoshima) and third Outstanding Performance Award, and was promoted to a san'yaku rank for the final time for the May 2000 tournament. In total he spent 15 tournaments at sekiwake and 11 at komusubi.

Takatōriki fell into the jūryō division in 2001 and announced his retirement in September 2002.[3] He did not miss a single bout during his 19 year career, finishing with 754 wins and 703 losses. His 1456 consecutive career matches place him third on the all-time list, after Aobajō and Fujizakura.

Fighting style

Takatōriki's fighting style was fierce, and he often relied on initial powerful face slaps (harite) to stun his opponents. He was a tsuki-oshi wrestler, preferring pushing and thrusting to fighting on the mawashi or belt. His most common winning technique was oshi-dashi or push out. However, due to his background in judo he was also adept at throws, some extremely rarely seen in the top division. He employed nichonage, the body drop down, on three occasions in makuuchi, and once pulled off the spectacular amiuchi, or fisherman's net casting throw.[4]

Retirement from sumo

Having married the third daughter of Taihō[5] (and changed his legal name from Kamakari to Naya), Takatōriki took over the running of the former yokozuna's stable in February 2003. It was renamed Ōtake stable. It was the home of the Russian top division wrestler Rohō until he was banned from sumo in September 2008 for testing positive for marijuana. Takatōriki and his wife have four children.

Along with five other oyakata (Magaki, Ōnomatsu, Otowayama, Tokiwayama and Futagoyama), he was forced to leave the Nishonoseki ichimon or group of stables in January 2010 after declaring his support for his former stablemate Takanohana's unsanctioned bid to be elected to the board of directors of the Sumo Association.

Expulsion

In June 2010 he admitted that he had been gambling illegally on baseball, after an investigation by the Sumo Association and Tokyo police prompted by articles in the tabloid weekly Shukan Shincho.[6] It subsequently emerged that he had been borrowing large amounts of money from ōzeki Kotomitsuki to pay gambling debts.[7] He was reportedly gambling on a much larger scale than others implicated in the scandal, betting tens of millions of yen, and knew that a bookmaker used in the gambling had links to a crime syndicate.[8] He was expelled from the Sumo Association at a special meeting on July 4, and apologised for his actions at a press conference. [9] He received no severance pay.[10] Ōtake stable was spared closure and has now been taken over by another coach at the heya, the former Dairyū, who switched from the Futagoyama name. It has also been reported that Taihō has instructed his daughter to divorce Ōtake.[11]

He announced in September 2010 that he was opening up a yakiniku restaurant in Kōtō, Tokyo.

In March 2011 prosecutors announced that Ōtake, as well as Kotomitsuki and 25 others involved in the scandal, would be spared indictment over gambling due to lack of implicating evidence.[12]

Career record

Takatōriki Tadashige[13]
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
1983 x (Maezumo) East Jonokuchi #33
61P
 
West Jonidan #103
43
 
East Jonidan #78
34
 
East Jonidan #90
34
 
1984 East Jonidan #92
61
 
East Jonidan #18
25
 
East Jonidan #44
16
 
East Jonidan #74
43
 
West Jonidan #64
61
 
West Sandanme #99
61
 
1985 West Sandanme #50
25
 
West Sandanme #82
61
 
West Sandanme #38
52
 
East Sandanme #11
25
 
East Sandanme #39
52
 
West Sandanme #8
52
 
1986 East Makushita #43
34
 
West Makushita #57
34
 
East Sandanme #10
52
 
West Makushita #44
25
 
East Sandanme #14
34
 
West Sandanme #22
25
 
1987 West Sandanme #52
61
 
West Sandanme #5
52
 
East Makushita #45
34
 
West Makushita #56
52
 
East Makushita #35
34
 
West Makushita #43
52
 
1988 West Makushita #25
34
 
West Makushita #33
43
 
West Makushita #27
34
 
West Makushita #37
61
 
East Makushita #17
43
 
East Makushita #11
43
 
1989 East Makushita #8
52
 
East Makushita #5
61
 
West Jūryō #13
69
 
West Makushita #2
70P
Champion

 
East Jūryō #10
78
 
East Jūryō #12
87
 
1990 West Jūryō #8
114
 
East Jūryō #3
87
 
West Jūryō #1
96
 
East Jūryō #1
105
 
East Maegashira #13
114
F
West Maegashira #2
510
1991 East Maegashira #8
96
 
West Maegashira #1
96
O
West Komusubi #1
96
F
West Sekiwake #1
96
F
East Sekiwake #1
87
 
East Sekiwake #1
87
 
1992 West Sekiwake #1
78
 
East Maegashira #2
69
 
East Maegashira #5
69
 
East Maegashira #8
96
 
East Maegashira #2
105
 
West Komusubi #2
510
 
1993 West Maegashira #5
510
 
East Maegashira #12
96
 
West Maegashira #6
114
T
East Komusubi #1
87
 
East Komusubi #1
78
 
East Maegashira #1
510
 
1994 East Maegashira #7
69
 
East Maegashira #12
123PP
F
West Maegashira #1
96
F
West Komusubi #2
105
F
West Sekiwake #1
87
 
West Sekiwake #1
69
 
1995 West Maegashira #1
78
East Maegashira #2
87
 
East Komusubi #1
510
 
West Maegashira #3
96
East Maegashira #1
87
 
West Komusubi #1
78
 
1996 East Maegashira #1
123
F
West Sekiwake #2
87
 
West Sekiwake #2
78
 
West Komusubi #1
105
F
West Sekiwake #1
114
F
East Sekiwake #1
69
 
1997 West Maegashira #1
114
 
West Sekiwake #1
78
 
West Komusubi #1
69
 
West Maegashira #1
114
O
West Sekiwake #2
96
 
West Sekiwake #2
69
 
1998 East Maegashira #1
510
 
West Maegashira #4
78
East Maegashira #5
96
 
West Maegashira #1
105
West Sekiwake #1
87
 
West Sekiwake #1
510
 
1999 East Maegashira #2
87
 
East Maegashira #1
87
 
West Komusubi #1
510
 
East Maegashira #3
411
 
East Maegashira #7
96
 
East Maegashira #2
213
 
2000 East Maegashira #10
69
 
East Maegashira #14
132
FO
West Komusubi #2
213
 
West Maegashira #8
96
 
East Maegashira #4
69
 
East Maegashira #5
411
 
2001 East Maegashira #12
87
 
West Maegashira #9
510
 
West Maegashira #14
510
 
West Jūryō #2
96P
 
East Maegashira #14
69
 
East Jūryō #1
78
 
2002 East Jūryō #2
96
 
West Maegashira #14
69
 
West Jūryō #1
411
 
East Jūryō #7
510
 
West Jūryō #11
Retired
310
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)
Divisions: Makuuchi Jūryō Makushita Sandanme Jonidan Jonokuchi

Makuuchi ranks: Yokozuna Ōzeki Sekiwake Komusubi Maegashira

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Sharnoff, Lora (1993). Grand Sumo. Weatherhill. p. 217. ISBN 0-8348-0283-X.
  2. Adams, Andy (2000-03-27). "Lowly Takatoriki captures first Emperor's Cup". Japan Times Online. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
  3. Newton, Clyde (2002-09-23). "Maru overpowers Taka to take title". Japan Times Online. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
  4. "Takatoriki bouts by kimarite". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
  5. http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/sports/news/20100629p2a00m0na003000c.html
  6. "Stablemaster admits gambling". Japan Times. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
  7. "Kotomitsuki, Otake face sumo ouster". Japan Times. June 28, 2010. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
  8. "Kotomitsuki, Otake to get ax over bets / Nagoya basho to go ahead as planned". Daily Yomiuri. 29 June 2010. Archived from the original on 2 July 2010.
  9. http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20100705p2a00m0na007000c.html
  10. http://www.japantoday.com/category/sports/view/kotomitsuki-otake-to-be-fired-but-get-severance-pay
  11. http://www.sumotalk.com/news.htm
  12. "Ex-wrestler Kotomitsuki, 25 others spared indictment over gambling". Mainichi Daily News. 18 March 2011. Archived from the original on 19 March 2011.
  13. "Takatōriki Tadashige Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 2012-08-10.

External links