February 2003

TAKANOHANA RETIRES!

Takanohana's Sekitori
Basho History

  
TAKANOHANA RETIRES!
Winner of 22 Yusho, 701 Torikumi Has 'No Regrets'

Japan Times: Jan. 21, 2003 In the 1960’s, it was Taiho.  In the 1970’s, it was Kitanoumi. And in the 1980’s, it was Chiyonofuji.   Each of these legendary grand champions dominated their decade on the sumo dohyo – but all three finally bowed to the crushing pressures of time and expectations, and retired to leave the ring to the next generation. Now the man who ruled sumo as the premiere rikishi of the 1990’s follows in those huge footsteps, as yokozuna Takanohana brought an illustrious but injury-plagued sumo career to an end Monday after his comeback bid at the 2003 Hatsu Basho ended in failure.

THE END OF A JIDAI – The 65th Yokozuna, Takanohana announces his retirement from sumo at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan as his stable master and father, Futagoyama (left), looks on.   (Photo:  Kyodo Photo)

Takanohana, who was still trying to recover from a right knee injury sustained in May 2001, fell to maegashira #4-East AMINISHIKI on the eighth day of the 15-day meet at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on Sunday.  This left the 22-time Emperor's Cup winner with a 4-3 record, with one rest day.

Amid talk of his imminent retirement, Takanohana managed two straight wins in his comeback in largely unconvincing fashion. However, he failed to add to the wins as he lost to rank-and-filers maegashira #3-West DEJIMA and AMINISHIKI in lopsided bouts the next two days as concern over his fitness lingered.

"I made up my mind after yesterday's bout. I had a little hesitation, though, but now I feel refreshed and I'm convinced from deep in my heart that I have made the right decision," Takanohana said. "I have no regrets and I'm thankful to have had such a wonderful career in sumo."

His stablemaster and father Futagoyama Oyakata said he is more relieved than sad to see his son bid farewell to the dohyo. "He can no longer wrestle the way he did in the past. It cannot be reversed. His knee doesn't move as he wants it to and his shoulder has been painful, too," Futagoyama said. "I'm not sad. On the contrary, I'm relieved."

Earlier Monday, Futagoyama Oyakata notified Japan Sumo Association chairman Kitanoumi of Takanohana's decision to retire. "Mr. Futagoyama told me that Takanohana has run out of the strength he needs to continue wrestling. It's sad news, especially after years of battling injuries, but every great yokozuna has to retire sometime," Kitanoumi said. "As an active wrestler, he made tremendous contributions to sumo with 22 tournament victories. It's a significant milestone. I hope he will help develop young talent as a sumo elder," he said.

The JSA’s executive committee accepted Takanohana's retirement request.  It later decided to award him a special bonus of 130 million yen (approximately $1,000,000.00) and the ichidai toshiyori of Takanohana in recognition of his accomplishments. The JSA allows only retired grand champions with outstanding careers to maintain their shikona as elders, and these names are not transferable. Takanohana is only the third such wrestler, following in the footsteps of legends Taiho and Kitanoumi.

Last September, Takanohana made an impressive comeback to the dohyo with a 12-3 record after missing seven straight tournaments, then opted out of the Kyushu tourney in November to nurse his knee. On Jan. 9, Takanohana made a last-minute decision to appear in the New Year’s meet.  Futagoyama said openly that he would persuade his son to end his wrestling career if he thinks his injured knee cannot prop him up any longer.

Takanohana's decision to retire comes as a bittersweet reminder to sumo officials and fans of the excitement he and his elder brother, former yokozuna Wakanohana III, generated in the 1990’s, and his unexpected decline in the wake of a series of injuries.

As the son of former ozeki Takanohana and nephew of former yokozuna Wakanohana II (now Magaki Oyakata) young Koji Hanada’s destiny was indelibly drawn in blood and sea salt, and fired on dohyo clay.  Making his professional debut in March 1988, the Tokyo native rose quickly through the ranks, setting a host of "youngest-ever" records along the way. Among these were:  youngest rikishi (at 16 years, nine months) to win the Makushita Division title in May 1989; as Takanahada, youngest to reach the Juryo division (in November 1989) and youngest to reach the Makunouchi division (in May 1990). He was the youngest rikishi to defeat a yokozuna when, as maegashira #1-West at the 1991 Natsu tournament, he bested the legendary Chiyonofuji to earn what would turn out to be his one and only kinboshi.  (Chiyonofuji retired later that basho.)  He became the youngest wrestler to lift the Emperor's Cup (at 19 years, five months) when he won the 1992 New Year tourney, at the same time sweeping the Shukun-Sho (Outstanding Performance Prize), Kanto-Sho (Fighting Spirit Prize) and Gino-Sho (Technique Prize).  In March of 1993, to mark his promotion to ozeki, his oyakata/father bestowed the historic Takanohana shikona upon him.

Takanohana, along with Wakanohana III, sparked the "Waka-Taka" sumo boom of the 1990s.  They were the first sibling pair to be ranked at ozeki on the same banzuke.  In 1998 they became the first brothers to both hold yokozuna rank at the same time.  (Wakanohana III retired during the Haru Basho in March of 1999, and is now out of the sumo world.)

Considered by many to be one of the strongest technical rikishi ever, Takanohana dominated the dohyo with an uncanny right-handed belt grip and an aggressive style that marked him for sumo greatness. He earned promotion to sumo's ultimate rank of yokozuna in January 1995 by closing out 1994 with back-to-back 15-0 campaigns in the Aki and Kyushu tourneys.  At that time, he appeared to be on a pace to challenge Taiho's record of 32 tournament championships.

As the 65th grand champion in sumo history Taka continued to roll over his opponents, winning four of the six grand sumo tournaments in 1995, four more in 1996 and three more the following year to bring his championship total to 18. But after four straight tournament titles in 1996, he injured his back while on a regional sumo tour and sat out his first full tournament at Kyushu in 1996. It was this injury, sumo experts believe, which led to his eventual decline and fall. With his power sapped, he began to gain weight to compensate for his ailing back and developed unspecified problems with his internal organs. Although Taka added victories No. 19 and No. 20 in 1998, a dislocated shoulder and strains to his muscles and joints prevented him from winning another title until January 2001.  It was about this time that he fell under the influence of a charismatic chiropractor, which badly strained his relationships with both his father and brother.

But the injury that would ultimately end his career struck just as he was on course for a full-fledged comeback.  In a bout against ozeki MUSOYAMA, Takanohana damaged ligaments in his right knee on the penultimate day of the Natsu tournament in May 2001.  He came back on the final day and, though barely capable of standing, threw down yokozuna rival MUSASHIMARU in a playoff for his 22nd Emperor's Cup. The victory left Takanohana fourth on the all-time list for championships behind Taiho (32), Chiyonofuji (31) and Kitanoumi (24). After the injury he underwent surgery in Paris in July 2001; but he failed to make progress in rehabilitating the knee and missed seven tournaments in a row (105 torikumi) before appearing in last year's Aki Basho.

When he had been out of action for more than a year, Takanohana came under pressure from the Yokozuna Deliberation Council, an advisory body to the JSA in charge of promoting wrestlers to sumo's top two ranks, to step down unless he returned to the dohyo and lived up to his yokozuna status.

Taka’s career ends with 22 Makunouchi yusho (four of which were 15-0).  He had 701 wins, 217 losses and 201 absences in the top division and an overall career record of 794-262-201.  He was ranked as a sekitori for 79 basho, and was in the top division for 74 of those.  He was ranked at yokozuna for 49 basho, but was on Kosho Seido for 11 of those.  He won the Shukun-Sho (Outstanding Performance Prize) four times,  the Kanto-Sho (Fighting Spirit Prize) twice, and the Gino-Sho (Technique Prize) three times.  He had only the one kinboshi on his books, and surrendered a total of 39 gold stars to other maegashira.  His retirement leaves Futagoyama Beya with only two Makunouchi rikishi (moto-ozeki/current komusubi TAKANONAMI, and moto-sekiwake/current maegashira #9 AKINOSHIMA) and one Juryo rikishi (#13-West GOKENZAN) out of a contingent that, at one time during the 1990’s, occupied 11 of the 66 sekitori positions.

“Yukikaze” reformatted this report and added text for SUMO SHIMPO.  Reference material from the Hungarian Sumo Page (www.szumo.hu) was used in this report.

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Takanohana’s Sekitori Basho History

(from the Hungarian Sumo Page (www.szumo.hu))

 
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Asashoryu Becomes 68th Yokozuna
Wins Second Consecutive Cup:  Others Can Only Watch
by “Yukikaze” for SUMO SHIMPO

In a normal January, cold winter winds blow through the Ryogoku district of Tokyo.  They chill the practice areas of the stables, cut through the thin clothing of the junior sumotori, and cause even the strongest men in Japan to draw into themselves for some form of warmth.

But amidst the samuikaze, everyone in the sumo world could feel a warm breeze blowing from the general direction of the Mongolian steppes.  And when the Kokugikan opened for the start of the 2003 Hatsu Basho that breeze grew into a full-fledged hurricane.  Ozeki #1-East ASASHORYU, fresh off his 14-1 championship effort in Fukuoka, charged through his competition as if the entire Golden Horde were behind him.  He got careless on day 9, allowing maegashira #5-East KAIHO to topple him by uchigake.  But he just dusted himself off, climbed back on and continued his charge.  For the second basho in a row SHORYU clinched the title prior to senshuraku:  this time he locked it down on day 14 with a win over sekiwake-East KOTOMITSUKI.  He finished at 14-1 to become the first non-yokozuna to win consecutive yusho since then-ozeki MUSASHIMARU won the Haru and Natsu contests in 1999.  Faced with these two virtuoso performances, the Yokozuna Deliberation Council decided to anoint him as the 68th Yokozuna, and the first grand champion from Greater Asia.

A member of Takasago Beya, ASASHORYU (civilian name:  Dolgorsuren Dagvadorj) seemed to be in a hurry to reach the top from the start of his career, and he fought as if daring any and all to stop him from getting there.  Born on September 27, 1980, he first appeared on the banzuke in January of 1999.  (The news of his Jonidan yusho appeared in the June 1999 SUMO SHIMPO – the very first issue of this august publication.)  SHORYU became a sekitori in September 2000, entered the Makunouchi in January 2001, made his sanyaku debut in May 2001 and was promoted to ozeki in September of 2002.  His top-division record currently stands at 133-62-0, while his career record is 206-82-0.  He stands 1.85 metres (6’-1.6”) tall and weighs 137 kilograms (301.5 lbs).  On his way up he won the Jonidan, Sandanme and Makushita division championships.  He has won the Shukun-Sho (Outstanding Performance Prize) three times and the Kanto-Sho (Fighting Spirit Prize) three times.  He has one kinboshi.

The mid-tournament retirement of yokozuna-West TAKANOHANA might have made the YDC’s decision easier.  Just when it looked like his knee might cease to be a problem, the Futagoyama heyagashira sustained a shoulder injury in his win over maegashira #1-West MIYABIYAMA.  He took the next two days off, then came back to defeat #2-West TOKI (for his 700th top-division victory) and #1-East TOSANOUMI.  But then came the fall, as he gave kinboshi to #3-West DEJIMA and #4-East AMINISHIKI in what would be the last two matches he would ever fight.  (See accompanying article.)  Yokozuna-East MUSASHIMARU was on the sidelines after surgery on the wrist that has become the ‘weakest link’ in his game.  Barring their respective danpatsu ceremonies, and a possible ‘old boy’ meeting sometime in the indeterminate future, these two long-time rivals – now both winners of 700 Makunouchi matches – will never meet on the dohyo again.

With the obvious exception of ASASHORYU, there was one word to describe the performance of the ozeki contingent – punk.  At least #1-West MUSOYAMA stepped up and fought.  It didn’t look good for the man who, in terms of time in rank, can be considered the senior:  after day 9 he was a pitiful 3-6.  He won five straight matches to get his kachi-koshi and set up a senshuraku match-up with the “Mighty Mongol”.  But he was ineffective at stopping SHORYU’s charge, so he finished with an 8-7.  #2-East TOCHIAZUMA came to the starting line – and proceeded to lose his first five matches, four of which were against hiramaku.  He withdrew on day 6 with a 0-6-9 record that places him back under kadoban.  Both #2-West CHIYOTAIKAI and #3-East KAIO watched everything from the Kosho Seido sidelines.

With both yokozuna and most of the ozeki blocked out of the play, it turned into a field day for the lower sanyaku.  Between days 6 and 12 komusubi-West WAKANOSATO just couldn’t lose; but when he did fall on day 13 to the “Mongolian Express” it all but ended his chances for the Tenno-Hai.  Nonetheless, his 11-4 outing was the best performance in the group:  it earned him a share of the Kanto-Sho (Fighting Spirit Prize).  His Naruto Beya stablemate, sekiwake-East TAKANOWAKA batted .500 through the first 8 days before taking five of his next six torikumi on his way to a nice 9-6 posting.  Sekiwake-West KOTOMITSUKI won six of his first nine and made his kachi on day 12, then won on senshuraku to land a 9-6 for himself.  Komusubi-East TAKANONAMI was the only member of the group who failed to get his eight:  he just couldn’t get a consistent game going, managed to battle his way to a 7-7 record going into the final day, and lost out to maegashira #9-East TAKAMISAKARI.  The former ozeki’s day 10 triumph over KOTOMITSUKI was the 600th Makunouchi victory of his career.  “The Human Derrick” thus joins stablemate AKINOSHIMA and senior yokozuna MUSASHIMARU as the only active members of that elite fraternity.

Between days 9 and 11, DEJIMA was actually tied with ASASHORYU in the sprint for the Cup.  But defeats by maegashira #12-West TAKANOTSURU, TAKAMISAKARI and TOSANOUMI ended the former collegian’s run at a second yusho.  DEJIMA still finished with a strong 11-4 record to tie with #10-East TOCHINONADA atop the maegashira leaderboard.  TAKAMISAKARI and #13-West KASUGAO both posted 10-5 efforts, while TAKANOTSURU and #7-East SHIMOTORI went 9-6.  KASUGAO was also awarded the Kanto-Sho, his first sansho.  The Shukun-Sho (Outstanding Performance Prize) and Gino-Sho (Technique Prize) were not awarded for the second consecutive tournament.

In the Juryo Division, #1-West ASASEKIRYU and #2-East BUYUZAN finished in a tie with 11-4 efforts.  ASASEKIRYU won the playoff to give both Takasago Beya and the nation of Mongolia another division yusho.  #3-West TAKEKAZE, #7-East YOTSUKASA and #13-West GOKENZAN all knocked out 10-5 efforts.  #1-East KINKAIYAMA, #4-East KOMAHIKARI and #8-East OGINISHIKI all finished at 9-6.

The 600-Win Club (updated after Hatsu 2003)
(Info from the NSK and Stefan Gelow web sites)