Yoshikaze Masatsugu

Yoshikaze Masatsugu
嘉風 雅継
Personal information
Born	Masatsugu Ōnishi (1982-03-19) March 19, 1982 Oita, Japan
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	142 kg (313 lb; 22.4 st)
Career
Stable	Oguruma
University	Nippon Sport Science University
Current rank	see below
Debut	January 2004
Highest rank	Sekiwake (Jan 2016)
Championships	1 (Sandanme) 1 (Jonokuchi)
Special Prizes	Fighting Spirit (4) Outstanding Performance (2) Technique (2)
Gold Stars	5 Kakuryū (2) Hakuhō Harumafuji (2)
* Up to date as of Nov 27, 2016.

Yoshikaze Masatsugu (born March 19, 1982 as Masatsugu Ōnishi) is a sumo wrestler from Saiki, Oita Prefecture, Japan. His highest rank has been sekiwake. A former amateur sumo champion, he turned professional in 2004, reaching the top division two years later. Until his promotion to komusubi in May 2014 he had the active record for the longest serving makuuchi wrestler who had never reached a titled rank. His best performance in a tournament came in July 2015 when he was the runner-up and scored twelve wins against three losses. In the following tournament in September 2015 he defeated two yokozuna and won special prizes for Outstanding Performance and Technique. Yoshikaze is in second place for the slowest promotion from makuuchi debut to the third highest sekiwake rank in history, behind only his stablemate Takekaze. He has won eight special prizes in total, and five gold stars for defeating yokozuna.

Early life and sumo background

He was an amateur sumo champion at Nippon Sport Science University, and won the college equivalent of the yokozuna title in his third year. Because he wanted to wait until after his graduation from university before joining professional sumo, he missed out on the chance to enter at the level of the third makushita division. He joined Oguruma stable and made his debut at maezumo level in January 2004.

Career

At the start of his career he was considerably older and more experienced than most of the competition there and quickly worked his way up the ranks, winning two tournament titles in the jonokuchi and sandanme divisions with perfect 7-0 records. He initially competed under his own surname of Onishi, but upon reaching the second highest jūryō division in July 2005 he changed his shikona to Yoshikaze.

He was promoted to the top makuuchi division in January 2006. It took him only 12 tournaments to make the top division from his professional debut, equal to the second fastest rise ever since the six tournaments per year system was introduced in 1958.^[1] However, until January 2009 he did not manage to rise above the mid maegashira ranks and he has fallen back to the second division twice so far.

In the November 2007 tournament he defeated fan favourite Takamisakari with the rare but spectacular technique of utchari, or spin throw from the edge of the ring. However he was able to win only three other bouts in that tournament and fell to the bottom of the division. An 8-7 record in January 2008 kept him in makuuchi.

Yoshikaze in May 2009.

One of his best performance in the top division came in November 2008 when he won 11 bouts and was awarded his first sanshō or special prize, for Fighting Spirit. He was promoted to a new high of maegashira 2 for the January 2009 tournament. Although he was not able to come through with a winning record his score of 6-9 was creditable, and he scored a memorable win over new ōzeki Harumafuji on the opening day of the tournament. However, he gradually slipped back down the rankings with three more losing scores in the next three tournaments. The November 2009 tournament was one of his most successful, as he won nine of his first ten bouts before slowing down somewhat to finish on 10-5. In September 2010 he won his second Fighting Spirit prize, which was shared with his stablemate Takekaze, after producing a fine 11-4 score, having been 7-0. He followed up with a solid 8-7 record in November, which saw him return to maegashira 2 in January 2011, and he reached maegashira 1 that July.

In March 2014 Yoshikaze scored 10–5 from maegashira 4. This not only saw him win his third Fighting Spirit Prize, but also guaranteed him promotion to the san'yaku ranks for the first time, as all the maegashira above him on the banzuke had losing scores. His promotion to komusubi in the May 2014 tournament ended his record as the active wrestler with the longest career in makuuchi without ever making a san'yaku appearance (47 tournaments). He managed a 6-9 at this rank, and though this would lead to a demotion, it is considered relatively strong showing for a wrestler debuting at this challenging rank. In the following July tournament in Nagoya, he defeated yokozuna Harumafuji for the second tournament in a row, this time earning his first kinboshi as he was back in the maegashira ranks.^[2] He added a second kinboshi in September by beating Kakuryū but ended the tournament with a losing record and withdrew from the November tournament after winning only four of his first twelve matches.

In early 2015 Yoshikaze dropped to maegashira 14 after losing records in five of the last six tournaments. He recovered in May however, with a 10-5 result and then produced a career-best makuuchi score at Nagoya in July, finishing with 12-3 and earning a fourth Fighting Spirit prize. His excellent form continued in September 2015 when his eleven wins from maegashira 1 included victories over both competing yokozuna, Hakuhō and Kakūryū. He was additionally awarded the special prizes for Outstanding Performance and Technique.^[3] Yoshikaze returned to the rank of komusubi for the November 2015 tournament and defeated Kakūryū for the second time in a row on the opening day.^[4] He went on to post wins over both sekiwake and the ozeki Gōeidō to end the tournament with an 8-7 record. He was awarded the special prize for Technique for the second consecutive tournament.^[5] His efforts saw him promoted to the rank of sekiwake for the first time, 59 tournaments after his top division debut. This is the second slowest in history, behind only fellow Oguruma stable member Takekaze, who took 68 tournaments to reach sekiwake.^[6]

Yoshikaze achieved a majority of wins in his debut at sekiwake, but lost the rank after the following tournament where he could only score 4–11. He earned his fifth career gold star in the July 2016 tournament by defeating Harumafuji for the eighth time in thirteen meetings.^[7] Despite suffering from facial injuries he ended the tournament with a 10-5 record and was awarded the special prize for Outstanding Performance.^[8]

Fighting style

Yoshikaze's favourite techniques are listed at the Sumo Association as tsuki/oshi, meaning he prefers pushing and thrusting moves as opposed to fighting on the opponent's mawashi or belt. His most common winning techniques are oshidashi, the push out, and yorikiri, the force out.

Family

Yoshikaze was married in December 2008, and the wedding ceremony was held in October 2009. He has two children, a daughter and a son.

Career record

See also

• List of active gold star earners
• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of active sumo wrestlers

References

External links

• Yoshikaze Masatsugu's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage