Kotonowaka Masahiro Tegata

is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Chiba Prefecture. He made his debut in November 2015 and reached the top ''makuuchi'' division in March 2020. He wrestles for Sadogatake stable. His highest rank has been ''komusubi''. He is the son of former ''sekiwake'' Kotonowaka Terumasa (who is also his stablemaster) and grandson of 53rd ''yokozuna'' Kotozakura Masakatsu.

Early life

Kamatani was born on November 19, 1997, the only child of then top division sumo wrestler Kotonowaka Terumasa. Kotonowaka had married the daughter of his stablemaster, former ''yokozuna'' Kotozakura. In November 2005 when Kamatani was in the second year of elementary school his father retired and took over the running of Sadogatake stable. Kamatani was in the Fukuoka International Center to witness his father's final bout, and his father told him to one day inherit the Kotonowaka name. He was in his third year of Saitama Sakae High School (well-known for its sumo club) and had won the gold medal in the heavyweight division at the World Junior Sumo Championships when he decided to enter professional sumo at the age of 17.

Career

Kamatani made his professional sumo debut in November 2015 under the ''shikona'' . He won all three of his ''maezumo'' bouts and in the following tournament in January 2016 won the ''jonokuchi'' championship with a perfect 7–0 record. He made the ''makushita'' division in September 2016, and in May 2019 a 4–3 record at ''makushita'' 2 was enough to earn promotion to the ''sekitori'' ranks for the first time. He adopted his father's ''shikona'' surname of Kotonowaka upon the promotion, with the expectation that he would eventually adopt his grandfather's ''shikona'' of Kotozakura if ever promoted to '' ōzeki''.

With four straight ''kachi-koshi'' or winning records in the ''jūryō'' division, Kotonowaka was promoted to the top ''makuuchi'' division in March 2020. They were the ninth father-and-son pairing to both reach the top division. Kotonowaka was ranked at ''maegashira'' 18, the first time since 1959 that ''maegashira'' had extended to an 18th rank. He secured a winning record on the 14th day of the tournament, having suffered four straight losses, and finished on 9–6. The next tournament to take place in July 2020 saw him pull out with a knee injury on Day 8, which he sustained the previous day in a loss to Kaisei. He re-entered on Day 14 but was unable to add any more wins, finishing on 4–6–5 which saw him demoted back to ''jūryō.'' He earned immediate promotion back to makuuchi for the November 2020 tournament with a 9–6 record (although he lost his last four matches).

Upon his return to ''makuuchi'' Kotonowaka only managed a 7–8 record (this time losing his last three matches) although it was enough to keep him in the top division as he fell just one place from ''maegashira'' 14 to 15. He performed better in the January 2021 tournament, scoring 10–5. He narrowly failed to get a majority of wins in the March and May 2021 tournaments, scoring 6–9 and 7–8 respectively.

In the July 2021 tournament Kotonowaka had his best career performance to date. He scored 12–3 and was awarded his first special prize, for Fighting Spirit. He moved up to ''maegashira'' 3 for the September tournament. On the eighth day of the September tournament he defeated ''ōzeki'' Shōdai. However, he had to withdraw from the tournament with a left knee injury on Day 10.

In January 2022 Kotonowaka won eleven matches from 14, and was awarded the Fighting Spirit prize for the second time. In March Kotonowaka was in contention for the championship on the final day for the second straight tournament, but lost to Hōshōryū when victory would have given him a chance of a playoff with the other two contenders, Wakatakakage and Takayasu. He finished in third place with 11–4, but did receive his third Fighting Spirit prize. In the May 2022 tournament he reached 2.

After a 9-6 winning record at his highest rank of ''maegashira'' 1, Kotonowaka was promoted to ''komusubi'' for the January 2023 tournament. At the January tournament he secured an 8–7 record on the final day with a win over Hokutofuji. Kotonowaka lost his first four bouts of the tournament, but rallied to get a winning record which included a win over eventual championship winner ''ozeki'' Takakeishō. He retained his ''komusubi'' rankings for the March tournament.

Fighting style

Kotonowaka prefers a ''migi-yotsu'' grip on his opponent's ''mawashi'' which is an left hand outside, right hand inside position. He also lists ''oshi'' (pushing) asa a favourite style in his Japan Sumo Association profile. Apart from ''yori-kiri'' and ''oshi-dashi'' (force out and push out), his most common winning ''kimarite'' include uwatenage (overarm throw), ''tsukiotoshi'' (thrust over) and ''uwatedashinage'' (pulling overam throw).

Career record

See also

*List of active sumo wrestlers
*Glossary of sumo terms
*List of komusubi

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotonowaka, Masahiro
1997 births
Living people
Japanese sumo wrestlers
Sumo people from Chiba Prefecture
Sadogatake stable sumo wrestlers
Komusubi