Asanoyama Hideki
| Asanoyama Hideki | |
|---|---|
| 朝乃山 英樹 | |
 Asanoyama in March 2017 | |
| Personal information | |
| Born |
Hiroki Ishibashi March 1, 1994 Toyama Prefecture, Japan |
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 166 kg (366 lb; 26.1 st) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Takasago |
| Current rank | see below |
| Debut | March, 2016 |
| Highest rank | Maegashira 5 (September, 2018) |
| Championships | 1 Makushita |
| Special Prizes | 2 (Fighting Spirit) |
| * Up to date as of September 23, 2018. | |
Asanoyama Hideki (朝乃山 英樹) (born Hiroki Ishibashi March 1, 1994 in Toyama Prefecture, Japan), is a professional sumo wrestler. He debuted in sumo wrestling in March 2016 and made his makuuchi debut in September 2017. His highest rank has been maegashira 5. He has earned two prizes for Fighting Spirit. He wrestles for Takasago stable.
Background
After initially showing more interest and aptitude for handball, Ishibashi began to concentrate on sumo in Junior High School. He took part in the national championships in his third year but sustained an elbow injury which led to him considering quitting the sport. He then attended Toyama Commercial High School and was persuaded to persevere by the school's sumo director.[1] After competing successfully in High School tournaments he won a place at Kinki University where he studied Economics. He won seven college titles and reached the top four in all-Japan Sumo Championships.[2]
Career
Early career
In 2016 Ishibashi joined the professional Takasago stable, bringing him under the tutelage of the former ōzeki Asashio. Like most new wrestlers he began his career under his family name.
As a University champion, Ishibashi was allowed to bypass the two lowest tiers of professional sumo and begin his career in the fourth sandanme division in March 2016. Three kachi-koshi (winning records) in his first three basho (tournaments) saw him promoted to the makushita division for September. Winning records in September and November were followed by a perfect 7-0 in January 2017 which earned him the divisional championship and promotion to the second division (jūryō). At this point he took the shikona ring name of Asanoyama. His promotion ensured that Takasago stable would once again have a sekitori, following the demotions of Asasekiryū and Asabenkei to makushita which had left the stable with no wrestlers in the top two divisions for the first time since 1878. Asanoyama revealed his determination to reach jūryō to honour the memory of his sumo coach at high school who had recently died of cancer, and that his resolve did not falter even though he lost two matches in November and had to wait for one more tournament to earn promotion.[3]
In his jūryō debut in March 2017 Asanoyama recorded 10 wins to tie for the lead on the final day of the tournament but was beaten in a play-off by the much more experienced Toyohibiki. After 8 wins in May he tied for the championship with 11 wins in July but again lost a play-off, this time to his near contemporary Daiamami. His efforts were enough to secure promotion to the top makuuchi division for the next tournament.[4] He was the second sandanme tsukedashi entrant to reach makuuchi following Yutakayama.
Makuuchi career
In his first tournament in the top division Asanoyama was assigned the rank of maegashira 16. He stood at only 3–3 after Day 6 but then went on a five-match winning streak and was on the leaderboard towards the end of the tournament, trailing Gōeidō by just one win on Day 13.[5] He finished with a 10–5 record and was awarded the Fighting Spirit Prize.[6] After his final match Asanoyama commented, "I have fought with the spirit of a challenger over the 15 days and that has led to my finishing with double figures in wins. I am really happy about that."[6] He was less successful in his second top division tournament, scoring only five wins against ten losses and barely avoiding demotion back to jūryō. In January 2018 he produced a 9–6 record from the rank of maegashira 16. In July he was on the leaderboard for much of the tournament and finished with an 11–4 record and a share of the Fighting Spirit prize.
Fighting style
Asanoyama has shown a preference for yotsu techniques which involve grasping his opponent's mawashi or belt. His most common kimarite or winning move is yorikiri, the force-out.[7]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | x | Sandanme #100 5–2 |
East Sandanme #66 6–1 |
West Sandanme #11 6–1 |
West Makushita #36 6–1 |
East Makushita #14 5–2 |
| 2017 | West Makushita #7 7–0 Champion |
East Jūryō #12 10–5–P |
East Jūryō #7 8–7 |
West Jūryō #5 11–4–P |
East Maegashira #16 10–5 F |
West Maegashira #11 5–10 |
| 2018 | West Maegashira #16 9–6 |
West Maegashira #13 8–7 |
West Maegashira #12 7–8 |
West Maegashira #13 11–4 F |
West Maegashira #5 7–8 |
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
- ↑ 朝乃山 応援よろしく 新十両昇進で県庁訪問 Archived 2017-02-19 at the Wayback Machine. 中日新聞 2017年1月28日
- ↑ ベースボール・マガジン社刊 『相撲』 2016年2月号（初場所総決算号） 95頁
- ↑ "関取ゼロの高砂部屋を救った朝乃山は、" (in Japanese). Sportiva. 21 March 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
- 1 2 "Asanoyama Hideki Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference.
- ↑ "Sumo: Ozeki Goeido crashes again, lead cut to 1 at Autumn tourney". Kyodo News. 22 September 2017. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
- 1 2 "Sumo: Harumafuji beats Goeido in playoff to win 9th career title". The Mainichi. 24 September 2017. Archived from the original on 26 September 2017. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
- ↑ "Asanoyama Hideki bouts by kimarite". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
External links
- Asanoyama Hideki's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage