Asanowaka Takehiko

Asanowaka Takehiko (born 11 December 1969 as Takehiko Adachi) is a former sumo wrestler from Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. His highest rank was ''maegashira'' 1. He is now a sumo coach.

Career

He was an amateur sumo competitor at Kinki University, although he never won any titles. He was recruited by ex-'' ōzeki'' Asashio (himself a former collegiate competitor) and joined Wakamatsu stable (later Takasago stable) in March 1992. He began as a ''makushita tsukedashi,'' meaning he could make his debut at the bottom of the third ''makushita'' division. He was promoted to the second ''jūryō'' division in January 1993 and captured the tournament championship in that division in November 1993 with a score of 11-4. Following a 9-6 in January 1994 he was promoted to the top ''makuuchi'' division in March of that year.

Asanowaka never managed to reach the titled ''san'yaku'' ranks or win a special prize. He was also unable to defeat any ''yokozuna'' and had only one win against an ''ōzeki'' (Takanonami in May 1997). Nevertheless, he fought in the top division off and on for ten years and his record of 346 wins there is the best amongst ''maegashira'' only wrestlers. He was also very popular with tournament crowds. At the peak of his career he wore an outlandish bright yellow ''mawashi'' and would enliven the preliminaries by throwing the purifying salt in a manner that resembled an American football player scoring a touchdown. He would also crouch extremely low to the ground when doing the warm up or '' shikiri''. Eventually he was instructed by the Japan Sumo Association to tone these antics down and in his later years on the ''dohyō'' wore a black ''mawashi'' and was much more subdued.

Retirement from sumo

By 2004 Asanowaka was no longer able to hold his own in the top division, and after a disastrous 1-14 score in the ''jūryō'' division in March 2005, he announced his retirement the following month. He had not missed a single bout in his career. He has remained in the sumo world as an elder, affiliated to the Takasago stable, and is now known as Wakamatsu Oyakata. He became a deputy director of the Sumo Association in 2020. He was reportedly in the running to take over Takasago stable following the retirement of his former stablemaster, the ex-Asashio Tarō IV, in December 2020, but lost out to the former Asasekiryū, another coach at the stable. In September 2021 Takasago stable's was promoted to ''jūryō'' and, with the coach's approval, changed his ''shikona'' to Asanowaka, because Asanowaka's record of going all out and never missing a bout stood in contrast to Terusawa's own injury record.

Fighting style

Asanowaka was of a short build for a sumo wrestler and had limited technique, relying heavily on slap-downs and ''henka.'' He sidestepped so regularly at the ''tachi-ai'' that he was criticized by sumo elders. He was a pusher-thruster, rarely fighting on the ''mawashi'' or belt. His most common winning ''kimarite'' was ''oshidashi'' (push out), followed by ''hiki-otoshi'' (pull down) and ''hataki-komi'' (slap down). He won only six career bouts by ''yori-kiri'' (force out) and was only credited once with a belt throw (an ''uwatenage'' in 2001). He was known for his powerful legs developed through relentless training, and he had no serious injuries in his career.

Personal life

Asanowaka married in February 2000 and his wife gave birth to a baby girl in September of that year. The couple's wedding reception was held in January 2001.

Career record

See also

*Glossary of sumo terms
*List of sumo tournament second division champions
*List of past sumo wrestlers
*List of sumo elders

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Asanowaka, Takehiko
1969 births
Living people
Japanese sumo wrestlers
People from Ichinomiya, Aichi
Sumo people from Aichi Prefecture