is a
Russian former
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.
[http://sumodb.sumogames.com/Rikishi.aspx?r=6771] He began his professional career in January 2007 and made the top division in a record eleven tournaments. The highest rank he reached was ''
sekiwake''. He was runner-up in consecutive tournaments in May and July 2010 and earned two ''
sanshō'' or special prizes for Fighting Spirit. He wrestled for
Mihogaseki stable.
Career
Aran was born in
Vladikavkaz,
North Ossetia–Alania
The Republic of North Ossetia–Alania; os, Республикӕ Цӕгат Ирыстон — Алани, ''Respublikæ Cægat Iryston — Alani'', ) is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. Its population acco ...
,
RSFSR
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
,
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
,
the same area as
Rohō and
Hakurozan. He began as an
amateur wrestler
Amateur wrestling is a variant of wrestling practiced in collegiate, school, or other amateur level competitions. There are two international wrestling styles performed in the Olympic Games: freestyle and Greco-Roman. Both styles are under the ...
, winning the Russian National Junior Championships. In October 2006 he won the open division of the World Amateur Sumo Championships held in
Saitama,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, defeating
Ichihara.
In December of that year, he joined
Mihogaseki stable. Sumo rules allow only one foreigner per
stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...
, and the departure of
Baruto to the newly formed
Onoe stable created an opening for him.
He made his professional debut in January 2007, alongside
Yamamotoyama. Although he was able to win only 2 out of 5 bouts in ''maezumo'', he won the ''
jonokuchi'' division championship in the next tournament with a perfect 7–0 record, and reached the second highest ''
jūryō
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 ...
'' division after one and a half years in July 2008. He became the fourth Russian ''
sekitori'', after Rohō, Hakurozan, and
Wakanohō. (Following the dismissal of these three for
cannabis
''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...
use, Aran was the only Russian left.) He made the top ''
makuuchi'' division just two tournaments later in November 2008, after winning the ''jūryō'' division championship with a 12–3 record. The 11 tournaments it took him to reach ''makuuchi'' from his professional debut equalled the all-time
record
A record, recording or records may refer to:
An item or collection of data Computing
* Record (computer science), a data structure
** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity
** Boot sector or boot record, ...
held by
Kotoōshū, now broken by
Jōkōryū.
Until the January 2009 tournament, in which he scored only 5-10, Aran had maintained a winning record in every tournament in which he had participated. However, he responded two consecutive winning tournaments, which sent him up 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 ...
'' to ''maegashira'' 1 for the July 2009 tournament in
Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...
. He defeated ''ōzeki''
Harumafuji there but was able to win only three other bouts. After three tournaments out of the limelight, he returned to the upper ''maegashira'' ranks in the March 2010 tournament, but lost 14 of his 15 matches. However, he put this disastrous performance behind him by scoring 12–3 in May, finishing runner-up to ''
yokozuna''
Hakuhō and receiving a share of the Fighting Spirit prize, his first ''
sanshō'' award. He had another good tournament in July, winning eleven bouts from ''maegashira'' 2, defeating two ''ozeki'' and once again finishing runner-up with a share of the ''Kantō-shō''.
In the September 2010 tournament he made his ''
san'yaku'' debut at ''sekiwake'', becoming the first member of Mihogaseki stable to reach sumo's third highest rank since the current head coach, the former
Masuiyama II, took over in 1984. He fell short with a 7–8 record, his only notable victory coming against the aging ''ōzeki''
Kaiō on the final day. He stayed in the ''san'yaku'' ranks at ''
komusubi'' but could score only 4–11 in July. In January 2011 he beat ''ōzeki''
Baruto but finished on 5-10, and his 6–9 mark in May, despite a win over Kotoōshū, was his fourth consecutive losing score. He returned to form in July 2011, scoring 10-5 which led to his return to the ''komusubi'' rank. However, he had a losing 5–10 record in September 2011 which dropped him to the ''
maegashira'' ranks for November, and he remained a ''maegashira'' throughout 2012.
Retirement from sumo
Though still at a comfortable rank of ''maegashira'' 7 in the September 2013 tournament, he chose to retire after posting a 3–12 record where he lost the last nine bouts. His Mihogaseki stable was folding and being absorbed into
Kasugano stable, and rather than fight for a new stable, he chose to retire on October 3 of that year. At a press conference he said that his physical condition was bad due to treatment for oral cancer and that he had been thinking about retirement for a year and a half. At his own request he quickly had a private ''danpatsu-shiki'' or retirement ceremony for close relatives only, which is unusual for a former ''sekiwake'', and returned to Russia to become a businessman.
Fighting style
Aran's favoured techniques as listed with the
Japan Sumo Association were ''migi-yotsu'' (a left hand outside, right hand inside grip on his opponent's ''
mawashi''), ''yori'' (grappling) and ''oshi'' (pushing).
He was criticised for not moving forward enough during his bouts and for relying heavily on ''
henka'' (side-stepping) and slap down
techniques
Technique or techniques may refer to:
Music
* The Techniques, a Jamaican rocksteady vocal group of the 1960s
*Technique (band), a British female synth pop band in the 1990s
* ''Technique'' (album), by New Order, 1989
* ''Techniques'' (album), by M ...
. Approximately one third of his wins were by ''hataki-komi'' (slap down), a much higher figure than most other wrestlers.
[
]
Personal life
In January 2009 he announced his marriage, to a fellow Russian, although the couple had in fact wed in June 2008. They had a son in February 2010.
In January 2010 he revealed that in December 2008 he had undergone treatment for
mouth cancer. The operation to remove the
malignant tumour
A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...
was a success, but caused him to drop 20 kilos in weight.
Career record
See also
*
List of sumo record holders
*
List of sumo tournament top division runners-up
*
List of sumo tournament second division champions
*
Glossary of sumo terms
*
List of non-Japanese sumo wrestlers
This is a list of foreign-born professional sumo wrestlers by country and/or ethnicity of origin, along with original name, years active in sumo wrestling, and highest rank attained. Names in bold indicate a still-active wrestler.
There are 186 w ...
*
List of past sumo wrestlers
This is a list of prominent past wrestlers (either retired or deceased) in the sport of professional sumo. They are listed in order of the year and tournament month that they made their professional debuts. The information listed below was gleaned ...
*
List of sekiwake
References
External links
Japan Sumo Association profileComplete career record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aran, Hakutora
1984 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Vladikavkaz
Russian expatriates in Japan
North Ossetian sumo wrestlers
Sekiwake