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Sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a rikishi (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (dohyō) or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet.
Makuuchi (幕内), or makunouchi (幕の内), is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (rikishi), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments.
Taihō Kōki was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler. He became the 48th yokozuna in 1961 at the age of 21, the youngest ever at the time.
Karoyan Andō, known professionally as Kotoōshū Katsunori and in his coaching career as Naruto Katsunori, is a Bulgarian-Japanese former sumo wrestler. He made his debut in 2002, reaching the top division just two years later. In 2005, he reached the rank of ōzeki or 'champion', the second-highest level in the sumo ranking system behind only yokozuna. On May 24, 2008, Kotoōshū made history by becoming the first European sumo wrestler to win an Emperor's Cup. He was one of the longest serving ōzeki in sumo history, holding the rank for 47 consecutive tournaments until November 2013.
Kaido Höövelson is an Estonian politician and former professional sumo wrestler. Making his debut in May 2004, he reached the top division after just two years in sumo in May 2006. After suffering a number of injury problems in 2007 which delayed his progress, he reached the third-highest rank of sekiwake in November 2008, and was promoted to ōzeki rank after finishing the March 2010 tournament with a score of 14–1. He was a tournament runner-up four times before recording a top division championship in the 2012 January tournament. During his career Baruto also earned five special prizes for Fighting Spirit, one for Outstanding Performance and one for Technique. He lost his ōzeki rank after more injury problems at the end of 2012, and having fallen greatly in rank after withdrawing from the May 2013 tournament, he announced his retirement in September of that year at the age of 28.
Takeshi Inoue known by his stage name Takeshi Rikiō, is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, who worked for Pro Wrestling Noah. He is also a former sumo wrestler.
Kotomitsuki Keiji is a Japanese former professional sumo wrestler from Okazaki City. A former amateur champion, he turned professional in 1999. He reached the top makuuchi division in November 2000 and won one yūshō or tournament championship, in September 2001. He was a runner-up in eight other tournaments, and earned thirteen sanshō or special prizes. He is one of six wrestlers in the history of sumo to receive all three sanshō in the same tournament, accomplishing the feat in the November 2000 honbasho. After a record 22 tournaments at sekiwake, he achieved promotion to sumo's second highest rank of ōzeki in July 2007 upon winning 35 out of 45 bouts in three consecutive tournaments. This made him at 31 the oldest man to reach ōzeki in the modern era. He wrestled for Sadogatake stable. On July 4, 2010, he was expelled from professional sumo by the Japan Sumo Association for his involvement in an illegal gambling ring.
Kokkai Futoshi is a former professional sumo wrestler from Georgia. He began his career in May 2001. He is the first Georgian rikishi to reach sumo's highest division, makuuchi, which he achieved in 2004. His highest rank was komusubi, which he reached in 2006. He earned two special prizes for Fighting Spirit and two gold stars for defeating yokozuna. He wrestled for Oitekaze stable.
Sanshō are the three special prizes awarded to top (Makuuchi) division sumo wrestlers for exceptional performance during a sumo honbasho or tournament. The prizes were first awarded in November 1947.
Toyonoshima Daiki is a former professional sumo wrestler from Sukumo, Kōchi, Japan. He made his professional debut in January 2002, reaching the top makuuchi division in September 2004. He was a runner-up in five tournaments, and earned ten special prizes. His highest rank was sekiwake, which he first reached in September 2008 and held for five tournaments in total. Following a suspension in July 2010 he was demoted to the jūryō division, but upon his return to makuuchi in November 2010 he took part in a playoff for the championship. He won four kinboshi or gold stars awarded for yokozuna upsets, three of them earned by defeating Harumafuji from 2013 to 2015. He wrestled for Tokitsukaze stable. He retired in 2020 and was an elder of the Japan Sumo Association under the name of Izutsu-oyakata until his departure from the association in January 2023.
Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. For more information, see kachi-koshi and make-koshi. Wrestlers are also ranked within each division. The higher a wrestler's rank within a division is, the stronger the general level of opponents he will have to face becomes. According to tradition, each rank is further subdivided into East and West, with East being slightly more prestigious, and ranked slightly higher than its West counterpart. The divisions, ranked in order of hierarchy from highest to lowest, are as follows:
Takekaze Akira is a former professional sumo wrestler from Akita Prefecture, Japan. A former amateur sumo champion, he turned professional in 2002, reaching the top makuuchi division the following year. He was a runner-up in one tournament, earned two special prizes for Fighting Spirit, and one gold star for defeating a yokozuna. Takekaze is in first place for the slowest promotion from makuuchi debut to the third highest sekiwake rank in history. Aged 35 years and two months, he is in first place for the eldest to make his sekiwake debut post World War II. He was a member of Oguruma stable. He retired in January 2019 to become an elder of the Japan Sumo Association under the name Oshiogawa-oyakata.
Masatsukasa Kōshin is a former sumo wrestler from Aomori Prefecture, Japan. His highest rank was maegashira 8. He was forced to retire in April 2011 after an investigation by the Japan Sumo Association found him guilty of match-fixing.
The following are the events in professional sumo during 2009.
The following are the events in professional sumo during 2007.
Tamawashi Ichirō is a Mongolian-Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Ulaanbaatar. Wrestling for Kataonami stable, his highest rank has been sekiwake. He made his debut in January 2004 and reached the top makuuchi division in September 2008. He has a makushita, a jūryō and two makuuchi division championships. He has seven gold stars for defeating a yokozuna, and four special prizes, all of them coming after he turned 30 years of age. In January 2019, he won his first top-division championship, and his second in September 2022 at the age of 37, making him the oldest winner of the top division since the introduction of the six tournaments a year system in 1958.
Sōkokurai Eikichi is a former professional sumo wrestler from Inner Mongolia, China. He is the only Chinese national to reach the top makuuchi division. Sōkokurai is of Mongolian descent. He made his professional debut in 2003 and was promoted to the top division in September, 2010.
Gagamaru Masaru is a Georgian former professional sumo wrestler from Tbilisi. The third Georgian national after Kokkai and Tochinoshin to make the top makuuchi division, he made his professional debut in November 2005, reaching the jūryō division in November 2009 and makuuchi in July 2010. Originally from Kise stable, he briefly competed for the Kitanoumi stable before moving back to the Kise stable after it was re-established. His highest rank was komusubi. He won two special prizes for Fighting Spirit and was runner-up in one top division tournament. After missing nearly all of 2020 through injury and falling greatly in rank, he announced his retirement during the November 2020 tournament.
The following are the events in professional sumo during 2011.
Chiyomaru Kazuki is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Shibushi, Kagoshima. He made his professional debut in May 2007. He took the second division jūryō championship in his third tournament in the division in January 2014 and was promoted to the top makuuchi division in the following tournament. His highest rank has been maegashira 5 East. He is the older brother of fellow professional sumo wrestler Chiyoōtori, and has served as his younger brother's attendant or tsukebito.
References
- ↑ "Niigiyama Tadashi Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
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