Tenkaihō Takayuki (born 14 October 1984 as Takayuki Minami) is a retired

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 Tamana, Kumamoto,

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 ...

. He made his professional debut in January 2007, and reached the top division in January 2012. His highest rank was ''maegashira'' 8. He won one '' sandanme'' championship. He retired in March 2019 to become a coach in the Japan Sumo Association.

Early life and sumo background

Minami began sumo in only his first year of primary school. In middle school he was regular participant in tournaments and came in third place in a

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

wide tournament. In his second year of high school he was in the best eight in a national sumo tournament, and in his third year made the best sixteen in the same national tournament. He continued practicing sumo at Nihon University and was a teammate of later sumo stars Yamamotoyama and Kiyoseumi. Upon graduation he chose to join Onoe stable which was led by former Hamanoshima who went to the same high school and university as Minami had. He also became stablemates with future '' ōzeki'' Baruto.

Career

Minami started his professional career with a consistent string of successes, only losing a few bouts in his first several tournaments and winning the '' sandanme'' division championship from the low rank of ''sandanme'' 92 with a 7–0 record and a playoff win over veteran Kihonoumi. He rose slowly but consistently through the ranks, recording mostly winning records over the next three years. In the November 2010 tournament he had a breakout performance, losing only to future '' maegashira''

Yoshiazuma is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kashima, Kumamoto. He made his professional debut in January 1996 and reached the top division in September 2011. His highest rank has been ''maegashira'' 12. The fifteen years it took him to reach ...

. In a playoff for the '' makushita'' division championship, he lost to future '' sekiwake'' Myōgiryū. He again continued to rise slowly but consistently through the ranks, achieving second division '' jūryō'' promotion for the July 2011 tournament. He was helped by there being a large number of retirements due to a match-fixing scandal. Upon promotion to the second division he took the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

of Tenkaihō. It took him only three winning tournaments in the remainder of 2011 to gain promotion to the top division. After battling for three tournaments in the top tier ''makuuchi'' he was relegated back to the second division. He managed to be re-promoted three times after that, but was soon demoted again, and became more of a ''jūryō'' regular than a ''makuuchi'' performer. He was demoted to the ''makushita'' division after the May 2016 tournament, scoring only 4–11 at ''Jūryō'' 14. He competed in the upper ''makushita'' ranks until 2019 but was never able to secure another promotion.

Retirement from sumo

Tenkaihō announced his retirement after the March 2019 tournament. He stayed in sumo as an

elder An elder is someone with a degree of seniority or authority. Elder or elders may refer to: Positions Administrative * Elder (administrative title), a position of authority Cultural * North American Indigenous elder, a person who has and tr ...

of the Japan Sumo Association with the elder name Hidenoyama (borrowed from the active wrestler Kotoshogiku), and coaches at Onoe stable. In February 2020 he switched to the Otowayama elder name, and in January 2023 he changed to Sanoyama.

Fighting style

Tenkaihō was a ''yotsu-sumo'' wrestler who preferred grappling techniques to pushing and thrusting. His favoured grip on his opponent's '' mawashi'' or belt was ''migi-yotsu'', a left hand outside, right hand inside position. His most common winning '' kimarite'' was a straightforward ''yori-kiri'' or force out, which accounted for about half of his career victories.

Personal life

He registered his marriage in September 2015, to a care worker from Anjo, Aichi. Their wedding reception was held in June 2016.

Career record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tenkaiho, Takayuki 1984 births Living people Japanese sumo wrestlers Nihon University alumni People from Tamana, Kumamoto Sumo people from Kumamoto Prefecture