Current Issue -- February 2005

Asashoryu Ties Legendary Mark

"Legendary" Yokozuna 
(10+ Yusho)

   
Asashoryu Ties Legendary Mark
“Mongolian Express” Matches Futabayama, Outdoes Taiho for Fastest Ten-Spot
by “Yukikaze” for SUMO SHIMPO

Under most circumstances, any rikishi who won five of six yusho during a calendar year would be justified in considering that a hugely-successful year.  But when that rikishi is yokozuna-East ASASHORYU, he was no doubt burning inside with the thought that he let the 2004 Aki Basho get away from him, wrecking his chance to be the first man in modern sumo history to put together a pure “Grand Slam”.

But SHORYU refused to fall into a funk or get sidetracked:  he continued to train, focused his energies with renewed clarity, and came into the Hatsu Basho determined to pick up where he left off after his year-ending yusho in Fukuoka.  Twelve days into 2005’s first tournament he was the only man in the sekitori ranks with a zensho record:  since his closest Makunouchi pursuers had three losses, he had at least a tie for the title firmly in hand.  He clinched matters on day 13 with a yorikiri win over sekiwake-East WAKANOSATO while the pack dropped further back with four losses.  And even with the yusho in hand he didn’t let up for a nanosecond:  he took down sekiwake #1-West MIYABIYAMA and ozeki-West CHIYOTAIKAI on the final two days of the contest to rack up the third 15-0 record of his still-rising career.

SHORYU won his first yusho in November of 2002.  It took only 13 tournaments from that point for him to win his tenth Emperor’s Cup.  This ties the mark set by 35th yokozuna Futabayama (he of the 69 consecutive torikumi wins) in 1942.  (This was at a time when there were only two official basho per year, Spring and Summer.)  The previous record for the six basho/year era (1958 to present) was 14, set by 48th yokozuna Taiho between Kyushu 1960 and Haru 1963.  (How many basho did it take other sumo legends to get their first ten wins?  See the table in this issue.)  The “Mongolian Express” thus becomes the 13th member of the pantheon of sumo legends who have won the Tenno-Hai ten or more times in the modern era (see related table).  He is the third non-Japanese to do so, following 64th yokozuna Akebono and 67th yokozuna Musashimaru.  SHORYU’s astounding power and dominance has now been fully demonstrated for all to see - and right now it doesn’t look as if there is anyone on the horizon who can stop him.

Ozeki-East KAIO probably won’t be that obstacle.  The only other sumotori to handle the Cup in 2004, he came into the tournament with a clear statement from the Yokozuna Deliberation Council:  win 13 or more torikumi and we will consider you for promotion to sumo’s pinnacle rank.   But early losses to maegashira #2-East KOTONOWAKA, komusubi-West HAKUHO (Mongolia) and maegashira #2-West TOSANOUMI put the ‘kibosh’ on his yokozuna dreams, perhaps for the last time.  Worse was to come:  by the time the tournament was over, Tomozuna Beya’s strongman had been pushed to the sidelines with a 4-6-5 record and another kadoban over his head.  On the other side of the banzuke CHIYOTAIKAI faced down his own kadoban situation by being satisfied doing just enough to keep his head above water.  The Haru 2003 champ won 4 of his first five, but then lost 4 of the next five to manage a .500 average through the first ten days.  He finished with 3 wins over the last five days for the 8-7 that makes his ranking secure for another few months.

Coming into these festivities, sekiwake #2-West TOCHIAZUMA could regain his parking space (and other ozeki perquisites) IF he could notch 10 wins in this outing.  The Kyushu 2003 winner started strong, winning six in the first 7 days and making his kachi on day 11.  But he still needed two more – and after a day 12 loss to the rampaging SHORYU he ‘ran the table’ for an 11-4 effort that will restore his ozeki standing on the Haru 2005 banzuke.  MIYABIYAMA continues to give the impression that he is making a serious run at regaining the ozeki rank he once held.  He won 6 of his first eight and had nine victories after day 13.  But his final two opponents, AZUMA and SHORYU, wanted those wins worse than he did and he had to settle for a still-respectable 9-6.  And it seems that whenever this writer thinks WAKANOSATO is about to make a serious move on promotion to ozeki, he puts on a ‘two-steps-backward’ performance that makes the prediction look foolish.  Naruto Beya’s top man won his first two matches but then lost four straight.  He pulled his tabi up with 4 victories in the next five days to pull ahead, but then collapsed with four more losses to finish out at 6-9.

It’s not often that a komusubi manages an early kachi-koshi, and it’s even rarer that it happens in one’s sanyaku debut.  But after his shonichi loss to the yokozuna, HAKUHO manhandled the remainder of the joi-jin quite handily to crunch out eight wins in nine days and become the second top-division sumotori to get his majority.  An 11-4 showing along with the Gino-Sho (Technique Prize) gives “Sleeping Thunder” (so named because, when his presence is not required elsewhere, he can be found in his private room at Miyagino Beya, asleep – Ed.) a powerful lien on the sekiwake slot that just opened up.  In a way it wasn’t quite fair to komusubi-East KOTOMITSUKI.  He’d fought well enough in the past three tournaments to get out of the ‘killer rank’, but had been kept in place because there was no movement above him on the banzuke.  And just when something finally shook loose, he was in no position to take advantage.  He was worked over early and often by the other joi-jin, never got a rhythm going, and finally finished at 7-8.  Before this basho MITSUKI had been fighting to escape from the hell of komusubi rank:  now he’ll be fortunate if he keeps a sanyaku paycheck when the next banzuke comes out.

#6-East KYOKUTENHO (Mongolia) took top maegashira honors with a 10-5 performance.  Other honorably-mentionable efforts among the hiramaku were:

#4-East KOTOOSHU (Bulgaria) (9-6)
#10-East DEJIMA (9-6)
#10-West KYOKUSHUZAN (Mongolia) (9-6)
#11-West JUMONJI (9-6)
#13-West BUYUZAN (9-6)
#14-East KASUGAO (South Korea) (9-6)

The Shukun-Sho (Outstanding Performance Prize) and Kanto-Sho (Fighting Spirit Prize) were not awarded this basho.  Needless to say, no kinboshi were awarded either!

In the Juryo, former maegashira and current #7-West OTSUKASA won the yusho with a 12-3 outing.  Other noteworthy second division performances:

#1-West FUTENO (9-6)
#2-East TOYOZAKURA (9-6)
#4-East KASUGANISHIKI (10-5)
#4-West ISHIDE (9-6)
#5-East TOKI (9-6)
#7-East HAKUROZAN (Russia) (10-5)
#9-East ASOFUJI (9-6)
#11-West ASANOWAKA (9-6)
#12-East KATAYAMA (10-5)

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“Legendary” Yokozuna (10+ Yusho)

(updated after Hatsu 2005)

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Fastest Run from 1st Yusho to 10th

(results as of Hatsu 2005)

* only two basho per year (Spring, Summer) in this period

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The “Closing on 600 Wins” Club
(updated after Hatsu 2005)

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JUNIOR DIVISION YUSHO WINNERS

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What the 2004 Numbers Say
Commentary by “Yukikaze” for SUMO SHIMPO

Looking back on 2004, it is disappointing that ASASHORYU was not able to win all six basho.  With two zensho efforts to open matters followed by two 13-2 outings, this writer thought that 55th yokozuna Kitanoumi’s 82-win season in 1978 would be eclipsed.  But the “Mongolian Express” fell so flat in September, not even winning 10 torikumi.  Still, his year-ending effort in Fukuoka showed that he still has the heart and soul to join the ranks of sumo’s legends (defined in this publication as any yokozuna who has won the Tenno-Hai 10 or more times:  see related table in this issue).  (Since this writing, SHORYU has won the Hatsu Basho with a perfect 15-0 score for his 10th yusho.)

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Top Ten 2004 Aggregate Records

(Makunouchi division only)

* Highest position on any 2004 banzuke

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Correction

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Troy Collins Commands Goltz Sumo VIII, Wins Award
by "Tonkatsu" for SUMO SHIMPO

The eighth annual Goltz Sumo Tournament at the Alexander Hughes Center in Claremont saw United States and California middleweight champion Troy Collins start 2005 the way he finished 2004, by sweeping both competitions he entered.  Troy topped a tough six-man middleweight field and followed it up by winning the open division.  Dating back to last year’s SHUUBUN tournament, this marks two consecutive tournaments without a loss for the LAPD’s top-ranked sumotori.  He also received the 2004 SUMO SHIMPO Award as the Outstanding California Sumotori of the year.  And he did it all under the proud gaze of his mother, who had come out from Virginia.

A total of thirty competitors showed up for the festivities, ranging in age from Hannah Crosby (almost four) to her daddy Glenn (fifty) and Jim Lowerre (fifty-one).  With Sensei Gary Goltz doing his ever-popular impression of a sportscaster, the action started with the oldest and the youngest.  Ernie Hunt drove down from northern California to handle the refereeing duties, while the honorable Matsuzaki-san and this writer served as the line judges.

In Masters’ action, Lowerre threw new heavyweight Mike Simpson after being driven to the edge of the ring, to spoil his competitive sumo debut.  After a few words from his coach, Simpson came from behind to take the best two-of-three series with two straight wins by yorikiri.  Masters middleweight action (actually three middleweights and lightweight Art Morrow) saw Jeff Riddle prevail with Kurt Rightmyer second and Glenn Crosby third.

The kids were then lined up, looked over, and sorted into competitive divisions.  Madeline Neuman topped the Littlest Kids’ division, with Eileen McNair second and Ernie's grandson Matthew Clark third.  Other kids’ divisions finished as follows:

"Girlies":  1. Ashley Sypherd  2. Alisha Ryczek  3. Rachel Crosby.

Middle-sized Kids:  1. Ian Panglourn  2. Cameron Ryczek  3. Megan Ginocchio.

Big Kids:  1. Justin Domingo  2. Sarah Crosby  3. Steven Simpson.

One of the more interesting competitions of the day was the middleweight (actually lightweight) girls (actually a woman and three girls) plus 124 pound Luis Guzman division.  Luis survived several close matches and a lot of teasing from Sensei Gary to win the division.  Kimberly Neuman was second, Ashton Farah third.

With seven entrants, the Men's Lightweight competition was the largest of the day.  Unlike last year’s California Open Sumo Championships, Trent Sabo didn't mess around any:  he ran the table with six straight wins.  Jovan Rushing took second, Trever Van Eede placed third.

The six-man Men's Middleweight division saw Collins win handily, with Riddle coming in second.  As the awards for this division were being presented, an error on the part of the scoring table was discovered.  Two matches had not been fought.  When this was corrected, the result was a three-way tie for third.  Because of time pressure, three bronze medals were awarded in lieu of a playoff.  The three bronze medalists were Rightmyer, Doug Cochran and Packy Bannevans.  (Packy, by the way, set a new record for distance traveled to a Goltz Sumo tournament, coming all the way from Duluth, Georgia.  The previous record was held by Doug Ballard, who traveled from Bloomington, Indiana for Goltz Sumo II.)

The Men’s Heavyweights were this year’s smallest division, with Masters’ competitors Simpson and Lowerre stepping up to give Justin Crite some action.  The two older men could not withstand the speed and power of the smaller but much younger Crite, who took the gold without a loss.  Simpson got the silver, Lowerre took the bronze.

Eight hearty souls took on the Open division challenge.  The modified double-elimination format saw Collins go through Rushing, Crite and Sabo to take the crown.  Sabo lost the silver medal match to Crite.  Newcomer Simpson, at 6'5" and 390 pounds, drew all lightweights in Open action.  After steamrolling Van Eede out of the ring Simpson found himself outmaneuvered by Sabo, who got behind him and walked him out of the ring.  In the consolation bracket he was outmuscled by Rushing.  Welcome to sumo, Mike!

In addition to Collins’ Sumotori of the Year award, Van Eede was named the SUMO SHIMPO Rookie of the Year.  Cochran won the Most Improved Sumotori award.

<<AWARD WINNERS… The SUMO SHIMPO awards for 2004 were presented at Goltz Sumo VIII.  From left:  Trever Van Eede (Rook