Gojōrō Katsuhiro

Gojōrō Katsuhiro (born 18 August 1973 as Akitomo Kojima) is a former sumo wrestler from Aoba-ku, Sendai, Japan. Making his professional debut in 1989, he spent a total of 53 tournaments as an elite ''sekitori'' ranked wrestler, reaching a highest rank of ''maegashira'' 3 in 1998. After a number of injury problems he retired in 2005 at the age of 32. He is now a sumo coach under the name Hamakaze-''oyakata''.

Career

As a teenager he did judo and fencing. He was recruited by former ''yokozuna'' Wakanohana of the Magaki stable. He made his debut in November 1989 at the age of 16. After very briefly having ''shikona'' based on his own surname of Kojima, in 1990 he was given the name Wakasenryū, which was modified to Wakatenryū in the following year. In January 1992 he reached the third highest ''makushita'' division, although he was able to score only two wins and five losses. He responded with his first ever ''yūshō'', a perfect 7-0 record in ''sandanme'', which earned him immediate promotion back to ''makushita''. However, in 1993 he missed four successive tournaments, which saw him drop all the way down to the rank of ''jonidan'' 52.

After another ''shikona'' change to Gojōrō, he returned to the ''dohyō'' in November 1993, winning 14 straight bouts and quick promotion back to ''makushita''. In May 1995 a 6-1 performance at the rank of ''makushita'' 4 saw him promoted to the ''jūryō'' division for the first time, alongside his stablemate, the Hawaiian born Yamato. He moved steadily up the division, and an 8-7 score at ''jūryō'' 1 in January 1997 was enough to see him promoted to the top ''makuuchi'' division in March. He dropped to ''jūryō'' after three tournaments but returned to ''makuuchi'' in January 1998 and a fine performance in May, when he recovered from 3-6 down to score 9-6, saw him promoted to his highest ever rank of ''maegashira'' 3 for the July 1998 '' basho''. However, he was pitched against all the top ranked wrestlers for the first time, including three ''yokozuna'' and two '' ōzeki'', and he finished with a 3-12 record.

In 1999 Gojōrō slipped back into the ''jūryō'' division, and he suffered a number of injury problems over the next couple of years. He went 4-4-7, 0-0-15, 7-7-1, 0-0-15 in the four tournaments from September 1999 to March 2000, but due to the '' kōshō seido'' (public injury) system he was able to stay in ''jūryō''. However, yet another withdrawal in the September 2000 tournament on Day 5 saw him demoted back to ''makushita''. It took him some time to recover from his injuries and return to the top ranks, but he collected two'' makushita'' ''yūshō'' on the way (both perfect 7-0 scores), and in September 2002 he finally returned to ''makuuchi'' after twenty tournaments away. He climbed to ''maegashira'' 4 in November 2002, and fought three ''ōzeki'', but was unable to beat any and finished on 4-11.

Gojoro's return to ''makuuchi'' was unfortunately short-lived, as yet more injury problems struck him in July 2003, when he was forced to pull out on Day 8 with only four wins and was demoted back to ''jūryō''. Sitting out the September 2003 ''basho'', he returned in November but had a disastrous tournament. Not only did he become the first wrestler in sumo history to suffer ''hansoku'' (disqualification) twice in one ''basho'' after he was judged to have pulled the ''topknot'' of Kokkai on Day 4 and Ushiomaru on Day 6, but he was injured again on Day 8 and had to pull out. He missed the January 2004 tournament as well, but the public injury system once again kept him at ''sekitori'' level. He was one of the last wrestlers to benefit from it as the system was abolished after this tournament.

He struggled on in ''jūryō'' until May 2005, when on Day 7 he was injured during a bout with Kotokasuga that was declared too close to call. Unable to take part in the rematch, he lost by default and was unable to compete the next day as well. He thus became the first wrestler since Fujinoshin in September 1989 to lose by default two days in a row. He did return to the tournament, only to drop out again after his eighth loss on Day 12. Demoted to ''makushita'' once again, he fought only four more matches before finally announcing his retirement in November 2005.

Retirement from sumo

Staying in the sumo world as a coach at his stable, he was allowed to use his old fighting name as his ''toshiyori'' or elder name for a year, giving him time to acquire full stock. In November 2006 he switched to the Hamakaze name after it was vacated by the former Misugisato. Faced with a stable that was deteriorating due to the poor health of Magaki-''oyakata'', in November 2007 he transferred to another stable in the same ''ichimon'', Sadogatake, and took up coaching duties there.

Fighting style

Gojōrō used both ''yotsu-sumo'' (grappling) and ''oshi-sumo'' (pushing) techniques. He preferred a ''hidari-yotsu'' (right hand outside, left hand inside) grip on his opponent's ''mawashi'', and often won by ''yorikiri'' or force out. However, his three most regularly used ''kimarite'' were ''oshidashi'' (push out), ''hatakikomi'' (slap down) and ''tsukidashi'' (thrust out).

Career record

See also

*Glossary of sumo terms
*List of past sumo wrestlers
*List of sumo elders

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gojoro Katsuhiro
1973 births
Living people
Japanese sumo wrestlers
Sportspeople from Sendai
Sumo people from Miyagi Prefecture