August 2005

No Triskadekaphobia for Asashoryu

Junior Division Yusho Winners

   
No Triskadekaphobia for Asashoryu
Wins 13th Cup With 13-2 Effort:  Kotooshu Has Breakthrough Outing
by “Yukikaze” for SUMO SHIMPO

It would be extremely hard to find two sporting events more different than the Tour de France and the Nagoya Basho.  Yet both of them had one extremely dominant competitor who was a crushing favorite to either drink champagne from a glass while riding the streets of Paris (in one instance) or drink sake from a cup that weighed more than a Tour bicycle (in the other).

The only time “the Lance” was tied for the Tour lead was at the starting line for the first stage.  But unlike most of his recent outings, yokozuna-East ASASHORYU actually found himself in a tie for the yusho in the late stages of the tournament.  The “Mongolian Express” cruised through his first seven matches – and then had his rensho stopped on day 8 by the “Sofia Skyscraper”, komusubi-East KOTOOSHU.  Okay, one loss, no big deal – and then he was pulled down on day 11 by maegashira #6-East KOKKAI (Georgia Republic) for his first kinboshi loss since last November in Fukuoka.  That dropped SHORYU into a tie with OSHU in the race for the Cup.  That finally got his attention and reset his focus:  the “Blue Dragon of the Morning” took it to his next three opponents to stand at 12-2 on senshuraku.  When OSHU lost to maegashira #2-West WAKANOSATO, SHORYU controlled his own destiny – but then, his final torikumi would be against ozeki #1-East TOCHIAZUMA, who had bested him twice in the past year.  That was then, this was now:  SHORYU crushed AZUMA for his 13th victory of the basho.  This earned him the 13th Tenno-Hai of his career, his fifth consecutive yusho, and his fourth for the 2005 sumo year.

ASASHORYU thus moves past 35th yokozuna Futabayama and 67th yokozuna Musashimaru to take sole possession of sixth place among the “legendary” champions.  The next milestone on the list is 54th yokozuna Wajima and his 14 championships.  His current win-loss record for 2005 stands at 57-3 - which is exactly where 55th yokozuna Kitanoumi was at this point in 1978 when he set his 82-8 mark.

Once again, the ozeki failed to mount any serious attempt to gain a position at the pyramid’s apex.  #2-West KAIO was kadoban coming into the festivities, but erased the vulnerability with his eighth win on day 11.  He stood at 10-3 after day 13 (the win over KOKKAI was top-division victory number 621, which moved him past Wajima on the 600-win list) with a slim chance to become a factor in the yusho race; but losses to SHORYU and sekiwake-West KOTOMITSUKI left him at 10-5 for top score among the men of the ‘great barrier’.  TOCHIAZUMA’s performance was a study in balance:  three wins, two losses, two wins, one loss and like that.  He was on pace for ten wins but his loss to the yokozuna left him still treading water at 9-6.  The kadoban ‘buck’ is now in the hands of ozeki #1-West CHIYOTAIKAI – again.  Kokonoe’s top deshi was never really ready to answer the bell at the Prefectural Taiikukan:  he was at 3-5 before he finally withdrew on day 9 to finish at 3-6-6.

With five sekitori, Sadogatake Beya can lay claim to the power stable status that Futagoyama and Musashigawa used to enjoy.  The current “Eurogashira”, KOTOOSHU’s 12-3 record, coupled with his defeat of the yokozuna, gained him the jun-yusho as well as the first Shukun-Sho (Outstanding Performance Prize) awarded since last September.  The sekiwake-East banzuke slot will be a ‘slam-dunk’ for OSHU to occupy:  it would be so even if he didn’t possess NBA-calibre height.  KOTOMITSUKI had a narrow chance of making kachi despite standing 5-7 on day 12.  Unfortunately for him, day 13 put him on the tracks in front of the “Express”; but he still has a chance of remaining in the sanyaku on the Aki banzuke.  Sekiwake-East HAKUHO (Mongolia) won 6 of his first 7 matches, but pulled out on day 9 and finished at 6-3-6 headed for certain demotion.  Komusubi-West MIYABIYAMA was at 6-4 at the two-thirds point of the basho, and only had hiramaku on his plate for the rest of the way.  But those maegashira ate his lunch, roughed him up good and left him staggered with a 7-8 record and another drop from the ranks of the joi-jin.

WAKANOSATO used this trip down the ‘erebeta’ to demonstrate his qualifications for returning to the sanyaku.  His 11-4 record was the top score among the maegashira and guarantees him a heavier paycheck in the near future.  Other excellent hiramaku efforts:

#3-West FUTENO (10-5) – Gino-Sho (Technique Prize)
KOKKAI (9-6) – Kanto-Sho (Fighting Spirit Prize) (kinboshi)
#8-West IWAKIYAMA (9-3-3)
#9-West AMINISHIKI (9-6)
#11-West TAKAMISAKARI (10-5)
#12-East TOKITENKU (Mongolia) (9-6)
#14-East TAMAASUKA (9-6)
#16-West TOYOZAKURA (9-6)
#17-East ISHIDE (9-6)

In Juryo, #3-West TOKITSUUMI won the yusho (and a return to the ‘bright lights’) with an 11-4 record.  Other noteworthy showings among the ranks of the ‘ten-ryo’ guys:

#4-East SHIMOTORI (9-6)
#5-East WAKATOBA (10-5)
#5-West KASUGAO (South Korea) (10-5)
#7-East HARUNOYAMA (10-5)
#8-East KASUGANISHIKI (9-6)
#9-West USHIOMARU (9-6)
#10-East KOBO (10-5)
#13-West YOSHIKAZE (10-4-1)

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JUNIOR DIVISION YUSHO WINNERS

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“Legendary” Yokozuna (10+ Yusho)

(updated after Nagoya 2005)

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The 600-Win Club (after Nagoya 2005)

* Non-Japanese

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List Of Officially-Chartered USSF Sumo Clubs

(as of August 8, 2005)

* in formation

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2012 OLYMPICS TO LONDON
Baseball, Softball Out; No New Sports In!
by "Tonkatsu" for SUMO SHIMPO

At a meeting in Singapore last month, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the 2012 Olympic Games to London.  The British capital beat out Moscow, Madrid, New York City and Paris (which were eliminated in that order).  The voting format was ‘devil take the hindmost’:  in each round of balloting, the city with the lowest number of votes was eliminated.

Later in the week, the IOC then voted to drop baseball and softball, the first sports dropped from the Olympics in sixty nine years.  They were dropped because they failed to get votes from a majority of the representatives.  They then voted on whether to add golf, rugby, karate, squash and one other that slips this writer’s mind (it certainly wasn't sumo).  Interestingly, it takes a two-thirds vote to add a spot:  none made it.  So, there will only be twenty-six sports at the 2012 Games instead of twenty eight.

There has been a lot of talk in certain quarters recently about sumo being an Olympic sport in 2012.  We don't know what that was based on, but such hopes appear to have been dashed.  One of the reasons that baseball was dropped was because the top athletes (aka:  the professionals) didn't compete in the Games.  Given that, we assume that if sumo ever happens to become an Olympic sport, they will expect the pros to compete.

We think it is time for amateur sumo to take a reality check - and the reality is that sumo isn't likely to be an Olympic sport anytime in the near future.  We are hardly alone in that.  The only time that rugby (which is played in more countries than such current Olympic sports as field hockey and team handball) has been in the Olympics was as a demonstration sport in London in 1948.  We have an annual World Championships, and we are a World Games sport.  Let's build on those!

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IF YOU REALLY LOVE SUMO AND WANT TO STAY CLOSE TO IT FOR MANY YEARS TO COME…

MAKE THE COMMITMENT!!

Become a United States Sumo Federation LIFE MEMBER

A one-time tax-deductible donation of $200.00 eliminates your worries about annual USSF dues FOR LIFE.  If you compete in USSF-sanctioned amateur sumo events for ten years or more, a Life Membership will pay for itself.  It also shows you are very serious about the sport, and is a definite ‘resume enhancer’ if you decide to seek office in the USSF or any other amateur sports body.

Application form is available here:  USSF Life Member Application

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Current USSF Dan Rank Holders

Current USSF Life Members

World Games 2005:  Japan Dominant, but US Strong
Special to SUMO SHIMPO by Troy Collins

The 2005 World Games were held in Duisburg, Germany.  The sumo wrestling was held in the nearby city of Bottrop on July 19th and 20th.  Noteworthy matches included Catherine Hurley defeating former world champion Rie Tsuihiji (JPN); Wade Strober defeating Yuya Hanada (JPN) and me having two matches go to judge’s meetings.

I made it into the final round for the middleweight championship, fought Katsuo Yoshida and Seietsu Higake (both JPN) and David Tsallagov (RUS) and finished fourth overall.  I also tied for fifth place (with Strober) in the openweight division, losing only to Keisho Shimoda (JPN) and Hikage.  James Brewster Thompson took sixth place in the men's heavyweight division, while Hurley took sixth place in women's heavies.  Alesia McFarlane was scheduled to wrestle in women’s middleweights, but was over the weight limit.  She drew a tough match against Ekatarina Keyb (RUS) in the openweight division.  Keyb won, and eventually took the bronze.

With Thompson being the oldest competitor at 52 years old, myself third-oldest at 38, and McFarlane second-youngest at 16, the USA team gave a strong showing in the two-day competition.  With a few more practices and competitions, the USA team will be sure to have medal winners in future World Championships.  It should also be noted that Thompson was clearly the fan favorite.  After both the heavyweight and openweight competitions, he found himself being held over for some 20 minutes to sign autographs and have pictures taken at the request of numerous fans.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had members in attendance to watch the event.  With a lot of hope and a little bit of luck, the IOC will decide to have Sumo in the 2012 Olympics in London.  The key factors will be more participation from female competitors, and more fans to watch and support Sumo.  Help spread the word to everyone.

“Yukikaze” edited and formatted this report.

EDITOR’S NOTE:  Troy has just been named the “Best Downtown Athlete” by the editors of the LA DOWNTOWN NEWS.  The citation text reads as follows:

LAPD Sumo Wrestler Troy Collins

When Troy Collins entered his first sumo wrestling tournament in 2001, he had never before tried the sport; he finished third.  Soon after, he was the U.S. middleweight champion.  These days, he continues to don the mawashi (no, it's not a loincloth) after he finishes his shift as a Downtown police officer.  What stands out about Collins - besides the cut, six-foot-two, 253-pound frame - is that he's a great ambassador for the sport.  He has exposed hundreds to it, and eagerly discusses the intricacies.  Keep you