Tochinoshin Tsuyoshi

Tochinoshin Tsuyoshi
栃ノ心 剛
Personal information
Born	Levan Gorgadze October 13, 1987 Mtskheta, Georgia
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	162 kg (357 lb; 25.5 st)
Career
Stable	Kasugano
Current rank	see below
Debut	March, 2006
Highest rank	Komusubi (July, 2010)
Championships	3 (Jūryō) 2 (Makushita)
Special Prizes	Fighting Spirit (5)
Gold Stars	1 (Harumafuji)
* Up to date as of Apr 25, 2016.

Tochinoshin Tsuyoshi (born 13 October 1987 as Levan Gorgadze, Georgian: ლევან გორგაძე) is a professional sumo wrestler from Mtskheta, Georgia. He is a member of the Kasugano stable and made his debut in March 2006. He reached the top makuuchi division just two years later in May 2008. His highest rank has been komusubi. After a long hiatus due to injury, he has made a dramatic comeback, logging four championships in a row in lower divisions on his way back to the top division.

Early life and sumo background

As a teenager he practised judo and sambo. He competed in amateur sumo at the World Junior Championships in 2004, held in Osaka, Japan and at the World Championships in 2005. He trained at the prestigious Nichidai sumo club at Nihon University^[1] and it was a member of that club who encouraged him to turn professional.

Career

Tochinoshin in May 2009.

At the beginning of 2006 he was recruited by the former sekiwake Tochinowaka. After eleven straight kachi-koshi or winning scores he gained sekitori status in January 2008 upon promotion to the jūryō division and immediately took the yūshō or championship in that division with a 12-3 record.

He took his first ever make-koshi or losing score in his top division debut in May 2008, but still won enough bouts to remain in the division. He reached maegashira 4 in November 2008, but facing the highest ranking men for the first time he could only record three wins against twelve losses. However, in July 2009 he produced a good score of 9-6 at maegashira 5, and was promoted to the rank of maegashira 1 in the September tournament. He could manage only four wins there, but had the best result of his career to date in November, finishing runner-up to Hakuhō at 12-3 and winning his first special prize, Fighting Spirit. However, his defeat to Hokutōriki on the final day cost him a chance of making his debut in the titled san'yaku ranks in January 2010.

In the May 2010 tournament he defeated four ōzeki in a row from Days 2 to 5 (becoming only the second man below sekiwake to achieve this, following Masurao in March 1987) and won his second Fighting Spirit prize (shared with Aran). He was rewarded with promotion to komusubi for the first time in the July 2010 tournament. He fell short with a 6-9 record, but returned to komusubi in November.

In May 2011 he equalled his best ever top division performance, once again finishing runner-up to Hakuho on 12-3 and winning another Fighting Spirit prize. This saw him return to the komusubi rank for the July 2011 tournament. His poor performance in November, scoring only 2-13, could be attributed to the fact that he was banned from training before the tournament by his stablemaster as punishment for breaking heya rules on curfew and wearing Western style clothes in public. He made komusubi for the fourth time in September 2012.

Tochinoshin suffered a anterior cruciate ligament injury in the July 2013 tournament, resulting in him missing the next three tournaments and falling from the maegashira ranks to the unsalaried makushita division. In March 2014, fighting from makushita 55, he bounced back with a 7-0 perfect championship. He followed this in the very next tournament in May with a consecutive 7-0 championship in at makushita 6, thereby guaranteeing his re-promotion to the salaried ranks of jūryō. He continued his comeback in fine style by winning two consecutive jūryō championships, the first after a playoff win over Ichinojo and the second with a perfect 15-0 score (only the third time since the six tournaments a year system began in 1958 that the latter had occurred). Returning to the top division in November 2014, he scored 11-4 and picked up his fourth Fighting Spirit Award. In 2015 he won six times in January but in March his eight victories included a win over the yokozuna Harumafuji, earning him his first kinboshi. Winning records in May and July at maegashira 1 saw him promoted to komusubi for the September tournament. Having fought his way back to sanyaku from makushita 55, Tochinoshin is in first place for the lowest rank fallen before a successful return to the komusubi rank since World War II.^[2] In September 2015 he maintained his rank with a 10-5 record and received his fifth Fighting Spirit prize.^[3]

He is on friendly terms with fellow countryman Kokkai, who helped him in his early days in Japan when he was suffering from homesickness.

Fighting style

Tochinoshin favours yotsu-sumo techniques, preferring to grapple with rather than push his opponents. His favourite grip on the mawashi is migi-yotsu, meaning he likes his right hand inside and his left hand outside his opponent's arms. His most common winning technique or kimarite is yori kiri or force out, but he also uses his left hand grip to good effect by regularly employing uwatenage, or overarm throw.

Career record

Tochinoshin Tsuyoshi^[4]

Year in sumo	January Hatsu basho, Tokyo	March Haru basho, Osaka	May Natsu basho, Tokyo	July Nagoya basho, Nagoya	September Aki basho, Tokyo	November Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka
2006	x	(Maezumo)	East Jonokuchi #17 5–2	East Jonidan #95 5–1–1	West Jonidan #49 7–0–P	West Sandanme #49 6–1
2007	East Makushita #59 5–2	West Makushita #41 5–2	East Makushita #28 5–2	West Makushita #18 6–1	East Makushita #6 5–2	East Makushita #1 5–2
2008	West Jūryō #12 12–3 Champion	East Jūryō #4 9–6	East Maegashira #14 7–8	West Maegashira #14 8–7	East Maegashira #10 8–7	West Maegashira #4 3–12
2009	West Maegashira #11 8–7	West Maegashira #10 6–9	West Maegashira #13 9–6	West Maegashira #5 9–6	East Maegashira #1 4–11	West Maegashira #8 12–3 F
2010	West Maegashira #1 5–10	West Maegashira #6 9–6	West Maegashira #2 8–7 F	West Komusubi #1 6–9	West Maegashira #2 9–6	West Komusubi #1 6–9
2011	East Maegashira #2 4–11	West Maegashira #6 Tournament Cancelled 0–0–0	West Maegashira #6 12–3 F	West Komusubi #1 6–9	East Maegashira #4 8–7	East Maegashira #2 2–13
2012	East Maegashira #9 10–5	West Maegashira #3 5–10	East Maegashira #8 9–6	East Maegashira #4 9–6	West Komusubi #1 6–9	East Maegashira #3 5–10
2013	East Maegashira #6 9–6	West Maegashira #1 7–8	West Maegashira #2 2–13	West Maegashira #11 3–2–10	West Jūryō #1 Sat out due to injury 0–0–15	West Jūryō #14 Sat out due to injury 0–0–15
2014	West Makushita #15 Sat out due to injury 0–0–7	West Makushita #55 7–0 Champion	West Makushita #6 7–0 Champion	East Jūryō #12 13–2–P Champion	West Jūryō #5 15–0 Champion	East Maegashira #8 11–4 F
2015	West Maegashira #1 6–9	West Maegashira #4 8–7 ★	West Maegashira #1 9–6	East Maegashira #1 8–7	East Komusubi #1 10–5 F	East Komusubi #1 7–8
2016	West Komusubi #1 6–9	West Maegashira #2 6–9	West Maegashira #4 –	x	x	x
Record given as win-loss-absent    Top Division Champion Retired Lower Divisions Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique     Also shown: ★=Kinboshi(s); P=Playoff(s) Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi Makuuchi ranks: Yokozuna — Ōzeki — Sekiwake — Komusubi — Maegashira

See also

• List of active gold star earners
• List of sumo tournament second division champions
• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of active sumo wrestlers

References

1. Frederick, Jim (2005-11-20). "Guess Who's Taking Over the Sumo Ring". Time Magazine. Retrieved 2008-09-24.
2. "Banzuke Topics". Japan Sumo Association. September 2015. Archived from the original on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
3. staff (27 September 2015). "Kakuryu bounces back to grab elusive 2nd title". The Japan News by Yomiuri Shimbun.
4. "Tochinoshin Tsuyoshi Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 2008-09-23.

External links

• Tochinoshin Tsuyoshi's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage