Takayasu Akira

Takayasu Akira
高安 晃
Personal information
Born Akira Takayasu
(1990-02-28) February 28, 1990
Tsuchiura, Japan
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 171 kg (377 lb; 26.9 st)
Web presence Tagonoura stable website
Career
Stable Tagonoura
Current rank see below
Debut March, 2005
Highest rank Sekiwake (Sept, 2016)
Championships 1 (Makushita)
Special Prizes Fighting Spirit (3)
Outstanding Performance (2)
Technique (1)
Gold Stars 4
Harumafuji (3)
Hakuhō
* Up to date as of Nov 27, 2016.

Takayasu Akira[1] (高安 晃 Takayasu Akira, born February 28, 1990 in Tsuchiura, Japan) is a Japanese sumo wrestler. He made his professional debut in 2005, and reached the top makuuchi division in 2011, the first wrestler born in the Heisei era to do so. His highest rank has been sekiwake. He has been runner up in one tournament and earned six special prizes: three for Fighting Spirit, two for Outstanding Performance and one for Technique. He has won four gold stars for defeating yokozuna.

Early life and sumo background

Takayasu was born and raised in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki, to a Japanese father and a Filipino mother.[1] He was a center fielder on his junior high school baseball team and through his father's recommendation he joined Naruto stable upon graduating from junior high school.

Career

On his entry to Naruto stable, he was already 180 centimeters tall and weighed 120 kilograms, and consequently had much expectation pinned on him from the start. His first tournament was in March, 2005. He made steady progress through the lower divisions, with only a few losing record or make-koshi tournaments. He won the yūshō or championship in the third makushita division in September, 2010 with a perfect 7–0 record. This propelled him into jūryō division, where along with Masunoyama became one of the first two sekitori to be born in the Heisei era. He decided against adopting a traditional shikona despite reaching the elite and has continued to use his birth name. In his first jūryō tournament in November he almost pulled off a second consecutive championship, losing to Toyohibiki in a playoff after both finished with 11–4 records.

After two more strong performances at jūryō Takayasu was promoted to the top makuuchi division in July, 2011. His debut record of 9–6 at maegashira 11 earned him a maegashira rank of no. 6 in the following tournament, then his highest, but he only managed a 6-9 record there. After a 9–6 score in the November 2011 tournament he was promoted to a new high of maegashira 3. He scored only 6–9 in the January 2012 tourney, but a 10–5 record in March saw him reach maegashira 1 in the May tournament.

Takayasu had his best result in the top division to date in the January 2013 tournament, finishing runner up on 12–3 and winning his first sanshō award for Fighting Spirit. He had two gold star wins in 2013, in two different tournaments, both at maegashira 1, and both against Harumafuji. The second win against Harumafuji also helped him procure his first Outstanding Performance prize, and his first promotion to the san'yaku ranks at komusubi. He only lasted one tournament at this rank however, and went into a bit of a slump before bouncing back with an 11-4 at the July 2014 tournament. In the November 2014 tournament he scored against top-ranked competition, earning two gold stars for defeating Harumafuji and Hakuhō and receiving the Outstanding Performance price. This saw him promoted to komusubi once more at the beginning of 2015, but he once again fell short with a 6–9 record.

He had to withdraw from a tournament for the first time in his career in September 2015, but recovered with two winning records in the next two tournaments. After a poor performance in March 2016, a 9-6 result in May saw him promoted to komusubi for the third time. At Nagoya in July he produced his first winning record at a san'yaku rank with eleven wins, beating the ōzeki Kotoshogiku, Goeido and Terunofuji and being awarded the Special Prize for Technique.[2] September saw him at sekiwake for the first time and he was in contention for the championship at 10–2 after twelve days, although he had a somewhat disappointing end to the tournament losing his last three bouts to maegashira ranked wrestlers. However, he was awarded his third Fighting Spirit Prize. His performance fueled speculation about a potential promotion to ōzeki but he failed to maintain his momentum in November, ending with a 7-8 record.

Fighting style

Takayasu is an oshi-sumo specialist, preferring pushing and thrusting techniques (tsuki/oshi) to fighting on the opponent's mawashi. His most common winning kimarite so far in his career are yori-kiri (force out), hataki-komi (slap down) and oshi-dashi (push out).

Career record

Takayasu Akira[3]
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
2005 x (Maezumo) West Jonokuchi #29
4–3
 		 West Jonidan #129
4–3
 		 East Jonidan #98
4–3
 		 East Jonidan #73
4–3
 
2006 West Jonidan #48
2–5
 		 West Jonidan #78
3–4
 		 West Jonidan #98
5–2
 		 East Jonidan #44
3–4
 		 West Jonidan #67
4–3
 		 West Jonidan #41
5–2
 
2007 West Jonidan #5
4–3
 		 East Sandanme #86
5–2
 		 East Sandanme #55
5–2
 		 West Sandanme #27
3–4
 		 West Sandanme #41
4–3
 		 East Sandanme #26
5–2
 
2008 East Sandanme #2
3–4
 		 East Sandanme #11
4–3
 		 West Makushita #59
4–3
 		 West Makushita #51
3–4
 		 East Sandanme #5
4–3
 		 East Makushita #54
5–2
 
2009 East Makushita #39
2–5
 		 East Sandanme #3
4–3
 		 East Makushita #54
4–3
 		 East Makushita #44
4–3
 		 West Makushita #36
5–2
 		 East Makushita #27
4–3
 
2010 West Makushita #22
4–3
 		 West Makushita #18
5–2
 		 West Makushita #10
4–3
 		 East Makushita #6
2–5
 		 West Makushita #13
7–0
Champion
 		 East Jūryō #11
11–4–P
 
2011 East Jūryō #3
9–6
 		 East Jūryō #1
Tournament Cancelled
0–0–0		 East Jūryō #1
8–7
 		 East Maegashira #11
9–6
 		 East Maegashira #6
6–9
 		 West Maegashira #8
9–6
 
2012 West Maegashira #3
6–9
 		 East Maegashira #7
10–5
 		 West Maegashira #1
5–10
 		 West Maegashira #5
6–9
 		 West Maegashira #9
10–5
 		 East Maegashira #4
5–10
 
2013 East Maegashira #7
12–3
F		 East Maegashira #1
5–10
★		 West Maegashira #5
8–7
 		 West Maegashira #1
9–6
O★		 West Komusubi #1
5–10
 		 East Maegashira #3
3–12
 
2014 East Maegashira #9
9–6
 		 West Maegashira #3
5–10
 		 West Maegashira #8
6–9
 		 West Maegashira #11
11–4
F		 East Maegashira #2
7–8
 		 East Maegashira #3
10–5
O★★
2015 East Komusubi #1
6–9
 		 East Maegashira #3
3–12
 		 West Maegashira #8
10–5
 		 East Maegashira #2
6–9
 		 West Maegashira #3
1–3–11
 		 West Maegashira #12
9–6
 
2016 West Maegashira #8
11–4
 		 West Maegashira #1
5–10
 		 West Maegashira #5
9–6
 		 West Komusubi #1
11–4
T		 East Sekiwake #1
10–5
F		 East Sekiwake #1
7–8
 
Record given as win-loss-absent    Top Division Champion 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

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Half-Pinoy sumo star to visit Manila". The Philippine Star. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Harumafuji captures title at Nagoya Basho". Japan Times. July 24, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Takayasu Akira Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 2011-10-22.


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