Takanowaka Yūki

Takanowaka Yūki
Takanowaka Yūki
	隆乃若勇紀
Personal information
Born	Yūki Ozaki; 2 April 1976 (age 42); Nagasaki, Japan
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	149 kg (328 lb)
Career
Stable	Naruto
Record	505–470–66
Debut	March 1992
Highest rank	Sekiwake (January 2003)
Retired	September, 2007
Championships	1 (Jūryō); 1 (Makushita)
Special Prizes	Fighting Spirit (3)
Gold Stars	1 (Musashimaru)
	* Up to date as of September 2007.

Last updated February 26, 2019

Takanowaka Yūki (born 2 April 1976 as Yūki Ozaki) is a former sumo wrestler from Ikitsuki, Nagasaki, Japan. His highest rank was sekiwake .

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.

Ikitsuki was a town on the island of the same name located in Kitamatsuura District, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan.

Nagasaki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. The capital is the city of Nagasaki.

Career

Takanowaka was born as Yūki Ozaki, the son of a professional baseball player. In his youth he played not only baseball but also basketball, for which he was offered several scholarships.^[1] He tried sumo at the suggestion of his school's sumo club manager, who had connections with Naruto stable.^[1] Takanowaka joined the stable in March 1992, making his debut alongside future sekiwake Wakanosato. As is common, he initially fought under his own surname, soon switching to "Takaozaki" before adopting the fighting name of Takanowaka in 1998. Initially weighing only 80 kg (180 lb), it took him several years to work his way through the lower ranks. He was promoted to the second highest jūryō division in May 1999 and reached the top makuuchi division just three tournaments later in November 1999.

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball through the defender's hoop while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own hoop. A field goal is worth two points, unless made from behind the three-point line, when it is worth three. After a foul, timed play stops and the player fouled or designated to shoot a technical foul is given one or more one-point free throws. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but if regulation play expires with the score tied, an additional period of play (overtime) is mandated.

A shikona is a sumo wrestler's ring name.

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.

Takanowaka was ranked in the top division for 34 tournaments in total, with a win-loss rate of 229–242, with 39 absences. He earned one kinboshi , or gold star, by defeating yokozuna Musashimaru in May 2001, and three special prizes. His best performance was probably in November 2002 when produced a strong 11–4 record at komusubi rank and won his third Fighting Spirit prize. He was promoted to sekiwake in January 2003 and held his rank with a good 9–6 score but missed the whole of the March 2003 tournament with an injury picked up on the last day of the previous basho. As a result, he was demoted to jūryō and although he quickly returned to the top division he never managed to reach the titled san'yaku ranks again. After suffering from torn cartilage in his knees his results took a downward turn. He was demoted to jūryō once again in January 2006 and the unsalaried makushita division in July 2007.

Kinboshi is a notation used in professional sumo wrestling to record a lower-ranked (maegashira) wrestler's victory over a yokozuna.

Retirement from sumo

On 22 September 2007 Takanowaka announced his retirement from sumo, after withdrawing from the September tournament with four losses at the rank of makushita 2. His official retirement ceremony took place on 16 February 2008 at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan. He did not stay with the Sumo Association as an elder, and left the sumo world completely. He opened a chanko restaurant in Hirado city.

Ryōgoku Kokugikan, also known as Ryōgoku Sumo Hall, is an indoor sporting arena located in the Yokoami neighborhood of Sumida, one of the 23 wards of Tokyo in Japan, next to the Edo-Tokyo Museum. It is the third building built in Tokyo associated with the name kokugikan. The current building was opened in 1985 and has a capacity of 11,098 people. It is mainly used for sumo wrestling tournaments (honbasho) and hosts the Hatsuhonbasho in January, the Natsu (summer) honbasho in May, and the Aki (autumn) honbasho in September. It also houses a museum about sumo. The venue is also used for other indoor events, such as boxing, pro wrestling, and music concerts. In past years, it has hosted the finals of New Japan Pro Wrestling's annual G1 Climax tournament as well as the Invasion Attack and King of Pro-Wrestling events and the WWE's The Beast in the East event in 2015.

Hirado, historically known as Firando is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The part historically named Hirado is located on the Hirado Island. With recent mergers, the city's boundaries have expanded, and Hirado now occupies parts of the main island of Kyushu. The components are connected by the Hirado Bridge.

He was married in February 2013.

Fighting style

Takanowakas favoured kimarite or techniques were hidari-yotsu (a right hand outside, left hand inside grip on the opponent's mawashi or belt), uwatenage (overarm throw) and yorikiri (force out).

Kimarite are winning techniques in a sumo bout. For each bout in a Grand Sumo tournament, a sumo referee, or gyōji, will decide and announce the type of kimarite used by the winner. It is possible for the judges to modify this decision later. Records of the kimarite are kept and statistical information on the preferred techniques of different wrestlers can be deduced easily. For example, a pie chart of the kimarite used by each sekitori in the past year can be found on the Japan Sumo Association webpage.

In sumo, a mawashi (廻し) is the belt (loincloth) that the rikishi wears during training or in competition. Upper ranked professional wrestlers wear a keshō-mawashi as part of the ring entry ceremony or dohyō-iri.

Career record

Takanowaka Yūki^[2]
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
1992	x	(Maezumo)	WestJonokuchi#16 5–2	EastJonidan#102 4–3	EastJonidan#75 5–2	EastJonidan#34 1–6
1993	WestJonidan#80 1–0–6	EastJonidan#128 1–0–6	WestJonidan#164 5–2	EastJonidan#109 5–2	EastJonidan#66 4–3	WestJonidan#40 4–3
1994	WestJonidan#22 6–1	WestSandanme#64 3–4	EastSandanme#83 6–1	EastSandanme#30 2–5	EastSandanme#59 4–3	EastSandanme#43 5–2
1995	EastSandanme#15 3–4	WestSandanme#27 4–3	EastSandanme#15 5–2	WestMakushita#50 2–5	EastSandanme#13 6–1	EastMakushita#41 4–3
1996	EastMakushita#32 4–3	WestMakushita#23 2–5	WestMakushita#45 3–4	EastMakushita#60 6–1–PP	EastMakushita#31 1–6	EastMakushita#59 7–0 Champion
1997	WestMakushita#7 3–4	WestMakushita#14 4–3	WestMakushita#7 3–4	EastMakushita#14 4–3	WestMakushita#8 4–3	WestMakushita#5 2–5
1998	WestMakushita#18 4–3	WestMakushita#11 6–1	EastMakushita#3 3–4	EastMakushita#7 2–5	EastMakushita#21 4–3	WestMakushita#15 5–2
1999	EastMakushita#6 6–1	EastMakushita#1 5–2	WestJūryō#11 9–6	WestJūryō#7 8–7	EastJūryō#5 11–4	WestMaegashira#14 9–6
2000	EastMaegashira#12 10–5 F	WestMaegashira#4 5–10	EastMaegashira#7 8–7	WestMaegashira#2 6–9	WestMaegashira#5 5–10	WestMaegashira#8 11–4
2001	EastKomusubi#1 4–11	WestMaegashira#4 8–7	WestMaegashira#1 5–10 ★	WestMaegashira#5 9–6	WestMaegashira#2 8–7	EastMaegashira#2 6–9
2002	EastMaegashira#5 3–4–8	WestMaegashira#11 11–4 F	WestMaegashira#3 7–8	EastMaegashira#4 7–8	WestMaegashira#4 8–7	WestKomusubi#1 11–4 F
2003	EastSekiwake#1 9–6	EastSekiwake#1 Sat out due to injury 0–0–15	WestMaegashira#6 0–2–13	EastJūryō#3 Sat out due to injury 0–0–15	EastJūryō#3 12–3	WestMaegashira#12 7–8
2004	WestMaegashira#13 4–11	EastJūryō#5 10–5	WestMaegashira#16 8–7	WestMaegashira#13 8–7	WestMaegashira#12 8–7	EastMaegashira#12 8–7
2005	EastMaegashira#9 6–9	EastMaegashira#12 7–8	EastMaegashira#13 5–10	WestMaegashira#17 8–7	EastMaegashira#15 9–6	WestMaegashira#10 1–11–3
2006	EastJūryō#5 6–9	WestJūryō#7 7–8	EastJūryō#8 5–10	EastJūryō#14 9–6	EastJūryō#8 11–4–P Champion	EastJūryō#2 5–10
2007	EastJūryō#6 8–7	WestJūryō#2 4–11	EastJūryō#9 4–11	WestMakushita#3 4–3	WestMakushita#2 Retired 0–4–0	x
Record given as win-loss-absent Top Division Champion Top Division Runner-up 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

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References

1 2 Perran, Thierry (November 2007). "The retirement of former sekiwake Takanowaka". Le Monde Du Sumo. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
↑ "Takanowaka Yūki Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 2012-08-18.

External links

Takanowaka Yūki 's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage

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[lemonde-1] 1 2 Perran, Thierry (November 2007). "The retirement of former sekiwake Takanowaka". Le Monde Du Sumo. Retrieved 2008-04-17.

[2] "Takanowaka Yūki Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 2012-08-18.