Yamato Gō
| Yamato Go | |
|---|---|
| 大和 剛 | |
| Personal information | |
| Born |
George Kalima December 17, 1969 Hawaii, USA |
| Height | 1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 191 kg (421 lb) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Magaki |
| Record | 251-198-24 |
| Debut | November, 1990 |
| Highest rank | Maegashira 12 (March, 1997) |
| Retired | September, 1998 |
| Championships | 1 (Jonokuchi) |
| * Up to date as of July 2007. | |
Yamato Gō (born 17 December 1969 as George Kalima) is a former sumo wrestler from Oahu, Hawaii, United States. His highest rank was maegashira 12.
Career
He was a schoolfriend of future yokozuna Akebono. He made his professional debut in November 1990, joining Magaki stable. His brother, Glenn, joined two months later, competing under the name of Onami. Yamato reached the salaried sekitori ranks in March 1995 when he was promoted to the jūryō division. He reached the top makuuchi division in January 1997, the first wrestler from his stable to do so since it was re-established in 1983. He chalked up a winning record of 8-7 in his debut and was ranked there for seven tournaments. He was forced to sit out the March 1998 tournament with a life-threatening bout of pneumonia which sent him down to jūryō. Still not fully recovered in May, he turned in a disastrous 1-14 record and fell to the unsalaried makushita division. Just before the July tournament he was hit by a car and was forced to withdraw once again. This sent him down to the bottom of makushita. After a 5-2 score in September he decided to retire rather than face another long struggle back up the rankings, and started up his own restaurant, Kama'āina's, in Tokyo's Roppongi district.[1]
Although Yamato never rose high enough in the rankings to face a yokozuna in tournament competition, he once defeated Takanohana eight times in a row in training.[1]
Fighting style
Yamato specialised in pushing and thrusting techniques, rarely fighting on the mawashi, and his two favourite kimarite were tsukidashi, or thrust out, and oshidashi, or push out.
Career record
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | x | x | x | x | x | (Maezumo) |
| 1991 | West Jonokuchi #34
6–1–PP Champion |
West Jonidan #74
2–3–2 |
East Jonidan #106
4–3 |
West Jonidan #70
3–4 |
East Jonidan #94
6–1 |
West Jonidan #22
6–1 |
| 1992 | East Sandanme #64
3–4 |
West Sandanme #78
5–2 |
East Sandanme #45
6–1 |
West Makushita #59
3–4 |
West Sandanme #13
3–4 |
West Sandanme #31
3–4 |
| 1993 | West Sandanme #46
5–2 |
West Sandanme #14
5–2 |
East Makushita #48
2–5 |
West Sandanme #6
3–4 |
East Sandanme #22
5–2 |
East Makushita #58
4–3 |
| 1994 | West Makushita #50
5–2 |
West Makushita #31
5–2 |
West Makushita #18
5–2 |
East Makushita #10
3–4 |
East Makushita #16
5–2 |
West Makushita #7
4–3 |
| 1995 | West Makushita #4
6–1 |
East Jūryō #13
6–9 |
West Makushita #3
6–1 |
West Jūryō #11
6–9 |
West Makushita #4
5–2 |
West Jūryō #13
9–6 |
| 1996 | West Jūryō #8
6–9 |
West Jūryō #12
9–6 |
East Jūryō #7
7–8 |
East Jūryō #11
10–5 |
East Jūryō #4
10–5 |
West Jūryō #1
11–4 |
| 1997 | West Maegashira #14
8–7 |
West Maegashira #12
7–8 |
West Maegashira #14
7–8 |
West Maegashira #15
6–9 |
West Jūryō #2
11–4 |
East Maegashira #12
7–8 |
| 1998 | East Maegashira #14
7–8 |
East Maegashira #16
Sat out due to injury 0–0–15 |
East Jūryō #9
1–14 |
East Makushita #9
Sat out due to injury 0–0–7 |
East Makushita #49
Retired 5–2 |
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) | ||||||
See also
References
- 1 2 Panek, Mark (2006). Gaijin Yokozuna. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-3043-1.
- ↑ "Yamato Go Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
External links
- Yamato Gō's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage