Tochinonada Taiichi

Tochinonada Taiichi (栃乃洋 泰一 born February 26, 1974 as Taiichi Gotō) is a former sumo wrestler from Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. An amateur sumo champion, he turned professional in 1996 and reached the top ''makuuchi'' division in 1997. He earned twelve ''kinboshi'' or gold stars for defeating ''yokozuna,'' the second highest ever, and he was a runner-up in two tournaments. His highest rank was ''sekiwake''. He is now a coach at Kasugano stable under the name Takenawa Oyakata.

Career

Born in Nanao, he was a rival of fellow top division wrestler Dejima in elementary school. He was an amateur sumo champion at Takushoku University, winning the College Yokozuna title. He joined Kasugano stable through a connection to Chigonoura Oyakata (the former ''sekiwake'' Masudayama), who was a fellow Takushoku University alumni and a coach at the stable, and made his professional debut in January 1996. Because of his amateur achievements he had ''makushita tsukedashi'' status, and so his debut tournament was in the third highest ''makushita'' division. He made the ''jūryō'' division in November 1996, switching from his family name of Gotō and adopting the ''shikona'' of Tochinonada. He was promoted to the top ''makuuchi'' division three tournaments later in May 1997.

Tochinonada had a strong start to his ''makuuchi'' career, earning special prizes for Fighting Spirit in consecutive tournaments in July and September 1997. He made his titled ''san'yaku'' debut that November at the rank of ''komusubi''. However he could manage only six wins there and did not return to the ''san'yaku'' ranks until January 2001, when he made ''komusubi'' once again. He reached his highest rank of ''sekiwake'' in March 2001 and held it for two tournaments. He was runner-up in the January 2003 tournament, when he lost his first four matches but then rallied to win eleven in a row to finish three wins behind Asashōryū. He was also runner-up to Kaiō in September 2004, where he also scored 11–4.

In March 1999 he became the first wrestler ever to win by default two days in a row. On Day 10 ''yokozuna'' Wakanohana withdrew, followed the next day by his brother Takanohana. However he did not receive a ''kinboshi'' for these victories. In May 1999 he injured ligaments in his left elbow in a match against Kaiō and had to sit out the following tournament in July. He did not miss any more bouts until six years later in July 2005 when he injured his right thigh on the second day and missed the rest of the tournament.

During his long stay in the top division Tochinonada earned twelve ''kinboshi'' or gold stars for defeating ''yokozuna'' while ranked as a ''maegashira,'' which places him equal second on the all-time list, level with Takamiyama and behind only Akinoshima. His first ''kinboshi'' came in January 1998 when he defeated Akebono, and he earned his next three in three successive tournaments from May to September 1998. In November 2003 he defeated two ''yokozuna'' on two successive days, and was awarded the Outstanding Performance prize as well. He defeated all the ''yokozuna'' he met at least once, with the exception of Hakuhō (his victory over Takanohana was at ''sekiwake'' rank, meaning he was not eligible for a gold star on that occasion). His twelfth and final ''kinboshi'' came nearly four years after his previous one, in July 2008 against Asashōryū. Although Tochinonada touched the ground first, Asashōryū had already gone out of the ring, and was therefore ''shini-tai''.
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In November 2005 Tochinonada dropped to the juryo division, breaking a run of 52 consecutive tournaments in the top division since his entry in May 1997. However he immediately won the ''jūryō'' championship in January 2006 and was promoted straight back. He won his 500th career match in July 2007, producing a strong 10–5 score. He was promoted up the rankings to ''maegashira'' 2 in September 2007 and fought his first ''yokozuna'' bout since May 2005 when he met Hakuhō on the 4th day. He had a win over '' ōzeki'' Kotoōshū but finished the tournament with a 4–11 record. In March 2008 he recovered from losing his first six bouts to win eight in a row and achieve ''kachi-koshi.'' He was demoted to the ''jūryō'' division for the second time after the September 2009 tournament, and he moved back and forth between the top two divisions a number of times after that. In the January 2011 tournament, Tochinonada managed a 7–0 start after 7 days, his best ever, although he finished on 9–6. Following the retirement of Kaiō in the July 2011 tournament he became the active wrestler with the most wins in the top division (556), but could not avoid demotion to ''jūryō''. In September he recorded his first ever ''make-koshi'' in the ''[jūryō'' division, scoring only 4–11.

Retirement

Following a performance with only three wins in the January 2012 tournament and facing certain demotion to the ''makushita'' division, he declared his retirement and missed his last match on the final day. He is remaining in the sumo world as a coach at his stable under the ''toshiyori'' or elder name Takenawa Oyakata. His official retirement ceremony or ''Glossary of sumo terms#danpatsu-shiki, danpatsu-shiki'' took place at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan on 29 September 2012, with new ''yokozuna'' Harumafuji performing his ''dohyō-iri'' there for the first time.

Fighting style

Tochinonada was a ''yotsu-sumo'' wrestler, preferring grappling techniques that involve grabbing the opponent's ''mawashi''. His favoured grip was ''hidari-yotsu'' (left hand inside, right hand outside), for which he was well known. His most common winning ''kimarite'' was ''yorikiri'' (force out) but he also regularly used his preferred inside grip to win by ''shitatenage'' (underarm throw). He was also fond of ''oshidashi'' (push out) and ''tsukiotoshi'' (thrust down).

Career record

See also

*Glossary of sumo terms
*List of sumo record holders
*List of sumo tournament top division runners-up
*List of sumo tournament second division champions
*List of past sumo wrestlers
*List of sumo elders
*List of sekiwake

References

External links

*

Tochinonada's basho results

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tochinonada Taiichi
1974 births
Living people
Japanese sumo wrestlers
Sumo people from Ishikawa Prefecture
Sekiwake
Takushoku University alumni