Takarafuji Daisuke
Takarafuji Daisuke (Japanese: 宝富士 大輔, born February 18, 1987 as Daisuke Sugiyama (杉山 大輔, Sugiyama Daisuke)) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Nakadomari, Aomori. He is a sandanme division champion. The highest rank he has reached is sekiwake.
| Takarafuji Daisuke | |
|---|---|
| 宝富士 大輔 | |
 Takarafuji in 2011 | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | Daisuke Sugiyama February 18, 1987 Nakadomari, Aomori, Japan |
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Weight | 166 kg (366 lb) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Isegahama |
| University | Kinki University |
| Current rank | see below |
| Debut | January, 2009 |
| Highest rank | Sekiwake (Sept, 2016) |
| Championships | 1 (Sandanme) |
| Special Prizes | Fighting Spirit (1) |
| Gold Stars | 3 (Kakuryū, Hakuhō, Kisenosato) |
| * Up to date as of January 24, 2021. | |
Early life and sumo background
From the third grade of elementary school, Sugiyama began practicing at a sumo dōjō near his home and began participating in national amateur sumo tournaments in junior high school. This exposure soon had him being scouted by several sumo stables. He chose to first finish high school and went on to university. He graduated from Kinki University in Osaka.
Career
Upon his graduation, the former yokozuna Asahifuji, who had previously attended the same high school and university as Sugiyama, invited him to join Isegahama stable of which Asahifuji was head coach. Sugiyama's professional sumo career began in January 2009. He took the shikona of Takarafuji from the beginning, following the practice at Isegahama of wrestlers taking a ring name at the beginning rather than waiting for a promotion opportunity as most stables do. He advanced quickly through the lower ranks. He narrowly lost the jonokuchi championship in his debut, losing in a playoff. He then posted an impressive 6-1 in his jonidan division debut in the next tournament. In the following July 2009 tournament, he won the sandanme division championship with a perfect record and a playoff win. His progress slowed only slightly on entering the tougher makushita division. Through to July 2010 he posted only one losing tournament, and was promoted to the jūryō second division in September 2010. His promotion from makushita 2 to jūryō 12 was higher than normal due to seven other wrestlers being suspended for gambling on baseball. Regardless of being put at a higher rank than his record had yet warranted, he excelled, posting four consecutive winning records and advancing to the top-tier makuuchi division in July 2011 at maegashira 10.
His debut in the division would turn out to be the same tournament that his stablemate, ōzeki Harumafuji would win the championship. This auspicious debut did little for his record, and an unimpressive 4–11 record had him demoted. For four tournaments, he alternated between losing records in makuuchi that bounced him down to jūryō where he would post an impressive enough record to achieve top-tier promotion again. Though he only posted a 6–9 record at maegashira 14 in the March 2012 tournament, unimpressive performances by many wrestlers in nearby ranks allowed him to stay in the makuuchi division at the bottom maegashira 16 rank for the May 2012 tournament. In this tournament he would finally post his first winning record, being in the championship race until late in the tournament before several consecutive losses knocked him out of the running. Since this time, he has been a managed to stay in the top division for the better part of three years, posting roughly alternating winning and losing tournaments, and was only demoted to jūryō once in November 2012 before bouncing right back into the top division.
He earned his first kinboshi or gold star for defeating yokozuna Kakuryū in the January 2015 tournament, but he missed out on a first special prize and promotion to the san'yaku ranks after he failed to win on the final day and ended with a make-koshi 7–8 record. Winning records in March and May saw him promoted to komusubi for the first time but a 4–11 result in July saw him return to the rank and file. He managed only four wins in September but returned to form with ten wins in November and a winning record in January 2016 led to him being made komusubi again for the March tournament. In this tournament he defeated Hakuhō on the opening day,[1] his first win over the yokozuna in eleven attempts. He beat Hakuhō again on the 5th day of the July tournament in Nagoya, ending the yokozuna's 33 bout winning streak.[2] He ended the tournament with a 10–5 record and was awarded the special prize for Fighting Spirit.[3] He was promoted to his highest rank to date of sekiwake for the following September 2016 tournament, but could only score 4–11 and was demoted. He has remained in the maegashira ranks since then.
Fighting style
Takarafuji is a yotsu–sumo wrestler who prefers a hidari–yotsu, or right hand outside and left hand inside grip on his opponent's mawashi. His most common winning kimarite are the two most popular techniques in sumo, yorikiri or force out, and oshidashi or push out.
Personal
On his promotion to the top division, his passing resemblance to the celebrity Matsuko Deluxe was noted by the Japanese media.[4]
He announced his marriage to a 24-year-old former dental assistant in December 2017, which had been registered in September.[5]
Career record
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | (Maezumo) | West Jonokuchi #25 6–1 |
West Jonidan #58 6–1 |
East Sandanme #91 7–0 Champion |
East Makushita #58 6–1 |
East Makushita #28 5–2 |
| 2010 | East Makushita #20 5–2 |
West Makushita #12 6–1 |
West Makushita #2 3–4 |
West Makushita #5 5–2 |
West Jūryō #12 9–6 |
West Jūryō #7 9–6 |
| 2011 | East Jūryō #5 8–7 |
East Jūryō #3 Tournament Cancelled 0–0–0 |
East Jūryō #3 9–6 |
West Maegashira #10 4–11 |
West Jūryō #1 9–6 |
West Maegashira #14 5–10 |
| 2012 | East Jūryō #2 10–5 |
East Maegashira #14 6–9 |
East Maegashira #16 9–6 |
West Maegashira #10 6–9 |
West Maegashira #12 5–10 |
West Jūryō #1 9–6 |
| 2013 | West Maegashira #14 9–6 |
East Maegashira #10 11–4 |
East Maegashira #3 6–9 |
East Maegashira #7 9–6 |
East Maegashira #3 5–10 |
East Maegashira #8 8–7 |
| 2014 | East Maegashira #7 7–8 |
East Maegashira #8 9–6 |
West Maegashira #2 4–11 |
East Maegashira #9 9–6 |
East Maegashira #4 8–7 |
East Maegashira #2 8–7 |
| 2015 | East Maegashira #1 7–8 ★ |
West Maegashira #2 8–7 |
East Maegashira #1 9–6 |
East Komusubi #1 4–11 |
West Maegashira #4 4–11 |
West Maegashira #8 10–5 |
| 2016 | East Maegashira #2 8–7 |
West Komusubi #1 6–9 |
West Maegashira #1 7–8 |
West Maegashira #2 10–5 F★ |
West Sekiwake #1 4–11 |
West Maegashira #5 9–6 |
| 2017 | East Maegashira #1 6–9 |
West Maegashira #3 7–8 |
West Maegashira #4 3–12 |
East Maegashira #13 9–6 |
West Maegashira #8 9–6 |
East Maegashira #5 7–8 ★ |
| 2018 | East Maegashira #6 8–7 |
West Maegashira #2 5–10 |
West Maegashira #6 7–8 |
East Maegashira #7 7–8 |
East Maegashira #8 7–8 |
West Maegashira #8 7–8 |
| 2019 | East Maegashira #10 9–6 |
West Maegashira #7 8–7 |
East Maegashira #6 8–7 |
West Maegashira #5 6–9 |
West Maegashira #8 9–6 |
East Maegashira #3 6–9 |
| 2020 | East Maegashira #6 7–8 |
East Maegashira #7 9–6 |
East Maegashira #3 Tournament Cancelled 0–0–0 |
East Maegashira #3 5–10 |
West Maegashira #5 7–8 |
East Maegashira #6 9–6 |
| 2021 | East Maegashira #2 9–6 |
x | x | x | x | 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) | ||||||
See also
References
- "Kotoshogiku starts strong as Hakuho falters on opening day". Japan Times. 13 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
- "Yokozuna Hakuho's 33-match win streak ends; Kisenosato handed first defeat in Nagoya". Japan Times. 14 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
- "Harumafuji captures title at Nagoya Basho". Japan Times. July 24, 2016.
- Miki, Shuji (1 September 2016). "SUMO ABC (35) / High expectations for newly promoted sekiwake duo". The Japan News. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
- "マツコ似の宝富士結婚「指輪代、今年の懸賞金より上」" (in Japanese). Asahi. 18 December 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
- "Takarafuji Daisuke Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 2012-05-22.
External links
- Takarafuji Daisuke's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage
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