Aotsurugi Kenta (born 16 December 1982 as Tevita Lato Taufa) is a former professional

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...

wrestler from

Tongatapu Tongatapu is the main island of Tonga and the site of its capital, Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with 74,611 residents (2016), 70.5% of the nation ...

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

. He made his debut in 2001 but had many injury problems. In 2006, he obtained Japanese citizenship, adopting the official name of Tebita Togawa. He retired in May 2009.

Career

As an amateur he competed in the lightweight category at the Junior World Sumo Championships in 2000, just missing out on a bronze medal. He made his professional debut in March 2001, joining the small Tagonoura stable. His first ''

shikona A is a sumo wrestler's ring name. The tradition of ring names in sumo dates back to the Edo period, where they were used as a means to attract customers and hide the identities of the ''rikishi''. Like standard Japanese names, a ''shikona'' co ...

'' or fighting name was Hisanoumi. He reached as high as ''

sandanme Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. For ...

'' 24 in the fourth highest division in November 2004, but injury meant he was not able to participate in any tournaments from November 2005 until September 2006. As a result, he fell off the ''

banzuke A , officially called is a document listing the rankings of professional sumo wrestlers published before each official tournament (''honbasho''). The term can also refer to the rankings themselves. The document is normally released about two w ...

'' (ranking list) completely in July 2006. He finally returned to the ring in November 2006 and fought three ''maezumo'' (pre-sumo) bouts – effectively beginning his career all over again from the very bottom. He won all three bouts. At the end of 2006 he acquired

Japanese citizenship Japanese nationality law details the conditions by which a person holds nationality of Japan. The primary law governing nationality regulations is the 1950 Nationality Act. Children born to at least one Japanese parent are generally automatical ...

. This allowed the Tagonoura stable to circumvent the

Sumo Association The is the body that operates and controls professional sumo wrestling (called ''Ōzumō'', 大相撲) in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japanese Ministry of Education, Cultu ...

's "one foreigner per

heya Heya or Hey Ya may refer to: *Heya (sumo) from the Japanese word for "room" (部屋), also in compounds -beya, or Sumo-beya, an organization of sumo wrestlers (pronounced ''beya'' when in compound form) * Heya TV, from the Arabic word for "Hers", ...

" rule and recruit another Tongan. He reappeared on the ''

'' in January 2007, ranked at ''

jonokuchi Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. For ...

'' 29. He then took the ''jonokuchi'' championship with a 6–1 record. By May 2007 he had progressed to ''

jonidan Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. For ...

'' 20 where he turned in another fine 6–1 score. This earned him promotion back to ''sandanme'' for July. In his first tournament in ''sandanme'' since September 2005 he could manage only a 2–5 score. In the September 2007 tournament, despite missing his first bout, he went on to record five wins and just one loss. At the end of 2007 he changed his ''shikona'' from Hisanoumi Taiyō to Aotsurugi Kenta. His score of 4–3 at Sandanme 25 in the September 2008 tournament pushed him up to a new highest rank of Sandanme 12 for November 2008 and he reached the top of the division in the January 2009 tournament. He scored three wins against four losses at Sandanme 1 in that tournament. He missed the May 2009 tournament, and announced his retirement from sumo. Although he had had knee problems in the past, his stablemaster Tagonoura Oyakata (the former

Kushimaumi Kushimaumi Keita (久島海啓太; 6 August 1965 – 13 February 2012), born as Keita Kushima (久嶋啓太), was a sumo wrestler from Shingū, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. A successful amateur, his highest rank in professional sumo was '' ...

) said that he had simply lost the will to fight.

Career record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aotsurugi Kenta 1982 births Living people Japanese sumo wrestlers Naturalized citizens of Japan People from Tongatapu Tongan emigrants to Japan Tongan sumo wrestlers

Career

Career record

See also

References

External links