Asashōryū Akinori
 Asashōryū in the ring during the May 2009 sumo tournament | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Native name | 朝青龍 明徳 |
| Born | Dolgorsuren Dagvadorj 27 September 1980 |
| Height | 184 cm (72 in) |
| Weight | 148 kg (326 lb; 23.3 st) |
| Website | https://ameblo.jp/asashoryu-yokozuna/ |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Sumo |
| Retired | 6 February 2010[1] |
| Heya | Wakamatsu → Takasago |
| Record | 669–173–76 |
| Debut | January 1999 |
| Highest rank | Yokozuna (January 2003) |
| Championships | 25 (Makuuchi) 1 (Makushita) 1 (Sandanme) 1 (Jonidan) |
| Special Prizes | Outstanding Performance (3) Fighting Spirit (3) |
| Gold Stars | 1 (Musashimaru) |
| Updated on February 2015 | |
Asashōryū Akinori (Japanese: 朝青龍 明徳; born 27 September 1980,[2] as Dolgorsürengiin Dagvadorj, Mongolian Cyrillic: Долгорсүрэнгийн Дагвадорж; [tɔɮgɔrsʊːrengiːn tagw̜atɔrt͡ʃ]) is a Mongolian former professional sumo wrestler (rikishi). He was the 68th yokozuna in the history of the sport in Japan, and in January 2003 he became the first Mongolian to reach sumo's highest rank. He was one of the most successful yokozuna ever.[3] In 2005, he became the first wrestler to win all six official tournaments (honbasho) in a single year. Over his entire career, he won 25 top division tournament championships, placing him fourth on the all-time list. He is often referred to as one of the greatest sumo wrestlers of all time.
From 2004 until 2007, Asashōryū was sumo's sole yokozuna between the retirement of Musashimaru and the promotion of fellow Mongolian Hakuhō, and was criticized at times by the media and the Japan Sumo Association for not upholding the standards of behaviour expected of a holder of such a prestigious rank.[4] He became the first yokozuna in history to be suspended from competition in August 2007 when he participated in a charity football match in his home country despite having withdrawn from a regional sumo tour claiming injury.[5] After a career filled with a multitude of other controversies, both on and off the dohyō, his career was cut short when he retired from sumo in February 2010 after allegations that he assaulted a man outside a Tokyo nightclub.[6]
Early life and sumo background
[edit]Asashōryū comes from an ethnic Mongol family with a strong background in Mongolian wrestling, with his father and two of his elder brothers all achieving high ranks in the sport.[7] He also trained in judo in Mongolia.[8] He originally came to Japan as an exchange student, together with his friend, the future Asasekiryū, where they attended Meitoku Gijuku High School in Kōchi Prefecture. They trained together at the sumo club there.[9]
Early career
[edit]He was recruited by the former ōzeki Asashio of the Wakamatsu stable (now Takasago stable), who gave him the shikona of Asashōryū, literally "morning blue dragon",[10] Asa being a regular prefix in the Wakamatsu stable. The second part of the shikona, Akinori, is an alternative reading of Meitoku, the name of his high school.[11] He made his professional debut in January 1999. By September he made his third division debut, finding himself in a rare seven-way playoff, winning two initially, but then losing two versus the two last rivals standing (tomoesen), ultimately having to spend a year in the third tier.
At that time, fellow Mongolians Kyokushūzan and Kyokutenhō were in the top division and stars back in their home country, but Asashōryū was quick to overtake them both. He attained elite sekitori status in September 2000 by winning promotion to the jūryō division, and reached the top makuuchi division just two tournaments later in January 2001. In May 2001, he made his san'yaku debut at komusubi rank and earned his first sanshō special prize, for Outstanding Performance.
In 2002, Asashōryū put together back-to-back records of 11–4, 11–4 and 12–3 and was promoted to sumo's second highest rank of ōzeki in July.[12] In November 2002, he took his first top division tournament championship (yūshō) with a 14–1 record. It took Asashōryū only 23 tournaments from his professional debut to win his first top division title, the fastest ever at the time.[13] In January 2003, he won his second straight championship. Shortly after the tournament, Asashōryū was granted the title of yokozuna, the highest rank in sumo.[14] His promotion coincided with the retirement of the injury-plagued Takanohana, the last active Japanese born yokozuna until Kisenosato in January 2017.[15][16]
Yokozuna career
[edit]
While his first tournament as yokozuna ended in a disappointing 10–5 record, Asashōryū won a further twenty-three tournaments. Combined with his two yūshō as an ōzeki, he had twenty-five career championships in the top division.[17] This puts him in fourth place on the all-time list, behind only Hakuhō, Taihō, and Chiyonofuji.[18]
2003
[edit]Asashōryū nominally shared the yokozuna rank with Musashimaru, but in fact his rival only fought a handful of bouts in 2003 due to injury.[19] The two did not meet in competition all year. Asashōryū won his first championship as a yokozuna in May 2003 and came back from an injury sustained in the July tournament to win his third title of the year in September.[20] Musashimaru announced his retirement in November, leaving Asashōryū as sumo's only yokozuna.[15]
2004
[edit]
Asashōryū began 2004 with two consecutive perfect 15–0 tournament wins (zensho-yūshō) in January and March.[21] Nobody had attained a zensho-yūshō since 1996; yet Asashōryū went on to add three more such titles after 2004, for a career total of five. At that time only Taihō, with eight, and Chiyonofuji and Kitanoumi with seven, had recorded more 15–0 scores.[22] His unbeaten run continued into the first five days of the May 2004 tournament, giving him a winning streak of 35 bouts in total, the longest run since Chiyonofuji's 53 in 1988. Although he was then upset by maegashira Hokutōriki, he gained revenge by defeating Hokutōriki in a playoff on the final day to claim the championship.[23] On 27 November 2004, Asashōryū became the first wrestler to win five tournaments in a year since Chiyonofuji achieved the feat in 1986, and won his ninth Emperor's Cup.[24] Asashōryū's below average 9–6 score in the September basho of 2004, the only one he did not win, was attributed in part to the official ceremony for his marriage, which was held in August 2004 (although he had actually married in December 2002). The hectic social round that inevitably follows Japanese weddings affected his pre-tournament preparations, as it prevented him from doing any training.[21]
2005
[edit]
He continued to dominate sumo in 2005, becoming the first wrestler ever to win all six honbasho (sumo tournaments) in the same year. The great yokozuna Taihō achieved the feat of six consecutive tournament victories twice, but never in a calendar year.[25] Asashōryū lost only six bouts all year (0–1–0–2–2–1). One of those rare losses came on 11 September 2005, at the start of the September tournament when he dropped his first Day 1 bout during his tenure as yokozuna. On 26 November 2005, a visibly emotional Asashōryū wept after winning his eighty-third bout of the year, (surpassing Kitanoumi's record set in 1978) and clinching the tournament at the same time.[26] The six championships of 2005 (including two more 15–0 wins in January and May) combined with his victory from the final tournament of 2004, meant Asashōryū became the first man in sumo history to win seven consecutive tournament championships.[26]
2006
[edit]Asashōryū's consecutive basho streak came to an end in January 2006, when ōzeki Tochiazuma took the first tournament championship of the year.[27] Asashōryū's performance in January was a surprisingly poor 11–4 but he successfully rebounded by winning the March tournament.[28] However, his six losses in those tournaments matched his loss total for all of 2005. In the May tournament, he sustained an injury to the ligaments in his elbow on the second day falling out of the ring in a surprising loss to Wakanosato and was visibly slow to rise from the ground.[29] He was absent from the tournament the next day and later released a statement confirming he was withdrawing from the tournament.[30] Doctors told him he would not be able to compete for two months, which meant he would miss the July tournament as well.[31] However, Asashōryū was ready by the start of the July tournament and won with a 14–1 record. In the following tournament, Asashōryū won his eighteenth career title with a 13–2 record.[32] He also won the final tournament of 2006 for his nineteenth career title, the fifth he has won with a perfect 15–0 record.[33]
2007
[edit]In January 2007, Asashōryū posted a 14–1 record, his fourth straight championship since returning from injury, and became the fifth man to win twenty career championships.[34] In March, he dropped his first two bouts but then won thirteen in a row for a 13–2 score. However, this was not enough to win the title—he lost a playoff for the first time in his career, to fellow Mongolian Hakuhō.[35] In May he turned in a below par 10–5 record, losing to all four ōzeki and maegashira Aminishiki (although he appeared to be carrying an injury). Hakuhō won this tournament as well and was promoted to yokozuna immediately afterwards.[36] Asashōryū had been the sole yokozuna for a total of 21 tournaments since the retirement of Musashimaru in November 2003 – the longest period of time in sumo history. In July he lost to Aminishiki once again on the opening day but rallied to win the next fourteen bouts, taking his 21st title with a 14–1 record.[37] He was suspended by the Sumo Association from the next two tournaments (see below).
2008
[edit]
Asashōryū returned to tournaments in January 2008. On the final day, he faced Hakuhō in a battle of 13–1 yokozuna, but was defeated, giving him a final record of 13–2.[38] In March the two yokozuna faced off for the title again on the last day, marking only the fifth time in the last 30 years that two yokozuna have contested the championship on the last day of two consecutive tournaments.[39] In this rematch, Asashōryū was the victor, winning his 22nd title, thus equalling Takanohana's haul of tournament championships.[40]
In the May tournament he lost to Kisenosato on the opening day. He injured his back in this match and subsequent losses to Kotoōshū (the eventual winner of the tournament) and Chiyotaikai put him out of contention.[41]
Asashōryū got off to a bad start in the July tournament by losing to Toyonoshima on the first day. After a second loss to maegashira Tochinonada on day five, he pulled out of the tournament on the sixth day citing pain in his elbow.[42] The September tournament unfolded in a similarly poor fashion. After compiling a lacklustre 5–4 record through the first nine days, Asashōryū forfeited his tenth-day match to maegashira Gōeidō and withdrew. He had elbow pain, and presented a medical certificate.[43]
He returned to Mongolia in October 2008, staying until shortly before the tournament in Kyushu in November, which he did not enter. He stated that he would not withdraw for a third time partway through a tournament, and suggested that he would retire if his comeback proved unsuccessful.[44]
2009
[edit]
The January 2009 honbasho, Asashōryū's first full tournament since May 2008, was a remarkable success. He won his first fourteen matches, losing only on the last day to Hakuhō. He then won the resulting playoff to earn his 23rd championship and pass Takanohana on the all-time list to become the fourth ever wrestler to have won 23 tournaments[45] (the other three being Taihō, Kitanoumi and Chiyonofuji). His victory came exactly twenty years after yokozuna Hokutoumi also returned from three tournaments out to win the championship with a 14–1 record. Sumo Association head Musashigawa described Asashōryū's comeback as "amazing." Ticket sales and television ratings showed a marked increase as his winning run continued.[46] After his playoff win Asashōryū announced to the crowd, "Everyone, thank you very much. Really. I am back."[46]
In the following tournament in March he went undefeated for the first nine days but then lost to three of the five ōzeki over the next five days, putting him out of contention for the championship. He also lost his final day match to Hakuhō to finish at 11–4. In the May tournament he lost early to Aminishiki, then won ten in a row before falling to Harumafuji on Day 14. He again lost to Hakuhō, on the final day, finishing at 12–3.[47]
Asashōryū returned to Mongolia after the May tournament to receive treatment for a bruised chest suffered in his defeat to Harumafuji. In June he received the Hero of Labour Award from outgoing Mongolian President Nambaryn Enkhbayar, the highest government award in Mongolia and equivalent to the Japanese People's Honour Award.[48] He performed poorly in the July tournament with a 10–5 record, his worst finish in just over two years.
He damaged ligaments in his right knee during a regional tour of Akita in August 2009 (the first time he had injured his knee), hampering his preparations for the September tournament.[49] Despite this, he won his first 14 matches, before finally losing to Hakuhō, leaving both wrestlers at 14–1. Asashōryū would win the resulting playoff to win his 24th yūshō, tying him with Kitanoumi for third on the all-time yūshō list. The triumph took place on his 29th birthday.[50] He finished on 11–4 in the Kyushu tournament in November, losing his last four matches.[51]
2010
[edit]In the January 2010 tournament, which was to prove to be the last of his career, Asashōryū clinched his 25th yūshō on Day 14 after beating Harumafuji to go 13–1, two wins ahead of Hakuhō on 11–3.[52] He was however beaten by Hakuhō on the final day for the seventh straight time in regulation matches, and he finished on 13–2.[18]
Controversy
[edit]Match-fixing speculation and lawsuits
[edit]In January 2007, Shūkan Gendai, a weekly tabloid magazine, reported that Asashōryū had paid opponents about ¥800,000 ($10,000) per fight to allow him to win the previous November 2006 tournament with a perfect score. Asashōryū denied these claims in court on 3 October 2008, during the first ever court appearance by a yokozuna.[53] He appeared as part of a lawsuit brought by the Japan Sumo Association and about 30 other wrestlers seeking around ¥660 million ($8.12 million) from Shūkan Gendai's publisher, Kodansha Ltd.[54] He said the allegations were "complete lies ... I am very sad and disgusted."[53] Also appearing in court, in defence of the magazine, was former wrestler Itai, who had made similar allegations of bout-fixing in 2000 regarding his own career. Itai suggested that Asashōryū's win over Chiyotaikai in the November 2006 tournament was an example of a fixed match.[55]
On 26 March 2009, the Tokyo District Court ordered Kodansha, the publisher of the magazine, and Yorimasa Takeda, the freelance writer of the articles, to pay ¥42.90 million ($437,000) in damages, believed to be the highest award for libel damages against a magazine in Japanese history.[56] Chief judge Yasushi Nakamura stated that the reporting was "slipshod in the extreme."[56]