Kyokushūhō Kōki

Early life and sumo background

In 2004, Tomurbator first came to Japan. He came as an exchange student through the Mongolian Judo Federation and became a student at Motosu City First High School in Gifu prefecture. In his second year of high school he took first place in the prefectural judo tournament and went on to take third place in the Tōkai regional tournament. He had no experience in sumo beforehand, but having aspired to fellow Mongolian Kyokutenhō's success he decided to join Ōshima stable, the same stable as his idol. He was able to circumnavigate sumo's one-foreigner-per-heya rule because Kyokutenhō had become a naturalized Japanese citizen, although this loophole has since been closed. In April 2012 the stable closed with his stablemaster, former ozeki Asahikuni, close to the mandatory retirement age, and he moved to Tomozuna stable.

Career

He first stepped onto the dohyō in May 2007. In November of that same year at the rank of jonidan 5 he achieved a perfect 7-0 record and then won a three-man playoff to take his first yūshō or tournament championship. He rose steadily through the ranks recording only a few losing tournaments (two of which he withdrew from due to injury) before reaching the rank of makushita 2 in the July 2011 tournament. His convincing record of 5-2 at this record allowed him to rise to the level of sekitori and in the following September tournament he was given the rank of juryō 10. A strong 9-6 showing followed by an even stronger 10-5 in the following January tournament allowed him to reach the top makuuchi division in only two tournaments. However a record of only 3-12 in his January 2012 divisional debut brought him demotion back to the second division after only one tournament.

Though Kyokushūhō seemed to have found his stride again after posting two consecutive 9-6 tournaments in the following March and May tournaments, a disastrous eight consecutive losses followed by a withdrawal from the July 2012 tournament saw him relegated back to the unsalaried ranks for the first time in a year. He bounced back quickly in the September tournament and a 6-1 record at makushita 1 put him right back in the salaried ranks. An 8-7 kachi-kōshi in the November tournament and a very strong showing of 11-4 in the January 2012 tournament would put him at the rank of juryō 2 for the March tournament. Here he achieved his most successful tournament yet by posting a 12-3 record and the championship. To achieve this he beat fellow Mongolian Azumaryu on the final day to give both the same record for the tournament and then later in the day beat him again in a playoff to take the championship. For the May tournament Kyokushūhō was promoted to the top division for the second time to his highest rank to that date of maegashira 12. He completed twelve tournaments in the top division, rising to a peak of maegashira 4 in January 2016, but an injury forced him to sit out the May tournament.

Fighting style

Kyokushuho is a yotsu sumo wrestler, preferring grappling techniques to pushing or thrusting. His favoured grip on his opponent's mawashi or belt is migi yotsu, meaning his left hand is inside and his right hand outside his opponent's. A straightforward yori kiri or force out is his most common winning kimarite but he also regularly uses oshi dashi (push out) and uwatenage (overarm throw).