Ōnishiki Ittetsu

Ōnishiki Ittetsu (born 11 September 1953 as Morio Obori) is a former sumo wrestler from Sado, Niigata, Japan. He made his professional debut in May 1968, and reached the top division in September 1973. His highest rank was ''komusubi''. He retired in January 1988 and became an elder in the Japan Sumo Association under the name Yamashina, holding the Special Executive position.

Career

He joined sumo in May 1968 at the age of just 14, competing under his own surname of Obori. He was considered a very promising prospect and after winning his first ''jūryō'' division championship in May 1973 he was given the ''shikona'' or fighting name Ōnishiki, after a great wrestler from his Dewanoumi stable, the 26th ''yokozuna'' Ōnishiki Uichirō. Just two tournaments later he became the first wrestler in sumo history to win all three '' sanshō'' or special prizes, for Fighting Spirit, Technique and Outstanding Performance, in his debut top division tournament. He was also runner–up in this ''basho'' and earned his first ''kinboshi'' or gold star by defeating ''yokozuna'' Kotozakura. He was promoted straight to ''komusubi'', which was to be his highest rank, but he suffered a serious back injury and scored only 3–12. He never made the rank again. As well his back problem he also suffered from knee problems and diabetes, and spent the rest of his career moving up and down the ranks of the two salaried divisions. He was to win seven more ''kinboshi'', but he was also demoted to ''jūryō'' on a number of occasions, where he picked up three more ''jūryō'' championships. He only fell to the third ''makushita'' division once during this period though. In this tournament in May 1979 at ''makushita'' 1 he posted a perfect 7-0 record, took the championship, and also handed Itai his first defeat in professional sumo, ending a consecutive winning streak from debut which was a record at that time. In September 1982 he became the first wrestler to immediately follow a win by default (over Koboyama) with a loss by default. He retired in January 1988 rather than face demotion to the ''makushita'' division again.

Retirement

Onishiki remained in sumo as a ''toshiyori'' or elder, and was known as Yamashina Oyakata. He worked as a coach at Dewanoumi stable and as a member of the Japan Sumo Association′s board of directors, holding the Special Executive position. He retired from the Sumo Association in September 2018 after turning 65 years of age.

Fighting style

Onishiki was a ''yotsu sumo'' specialist who favoured ''hidari yotsu'', or a right hand outside, left hand inside grip on his opponent′s ''mawashi''. His favourite ''kimarite'' or techniques were ''yori kiri'' (force out) and ''uwatenage'' (overarm throw).

Career record

See also

*Glossary of sumo terms
* 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 komusubi

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Onishiki Ittetsu
1953 births
Living people
Japanese sumo wrestlers
Komusubi
Sumo people from Niigata Prefecture
People from Sado, Niigata