Kaiō Hiroyuki

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
魁 皇 博 之
Kaiō Hiroyuki
Kaio Hiroyuki 2008 May.jpg
Personal data
real name Koga Hiroyuki
Born July 24, 1972
place of birth Nogata, Fukuoka Prefecture
size 1.84 m
Weight 164 kg
Career
Heya Tomozuna
Career record 1047–699–158
879–580–141 (makuuchi)
debut March 1988
Highest rank Ōzeki (September 2000)
Tournament victories 5 (Makuuchi)
1 each in Makushita and Sandanme
resignation July 2011

Kaiō Hiroyuki ( Japanese 魁 皇 博 之 ; * July 24, 1972 in Nōgata , Fukuoka Prefecture as Hiroyuki Koga ( 古 賀 博 之 Koga Hiroyuki)) is a former Japanese sumo wrestler who was active from 1988 to 2011.

Kaiō achieved the second most victories in the first makuuchi division (879) and in sumō in general (1047). In addition, he fought most of the fights in the top class (1444). He held the second-highest angzeki rank over a period of 65 tournaments (shared record). Kaiō won a total of five Yūshō in the top division, making him the fighter with the most tournament wins who was never promoted to yokozuna .

Career

Ascent to the sanyaku

Kaiō began his career in March 1988 at the Tomozuma stable. He saw himself exposed to stiff competition, as the later yokozuna Akebono , Wakanohana and Takanohana ( Musashimaru in the following year ) started their careers at the same time . In contrast to them, Koga's rise was somewhat slower, but he was also sekitori in January 1992 with his entry into the second Jūryō division , whereupon he took the battle name Kaiō .

In May 1993 Kaiō rose to the first Makuuchi division, but could not establish itself immediately. After his return he remained a member of the highest class from the November 1993 tournament. The next sporting step was rapid and in May 1994 was Kaio for the first time sanyaku . By the year 2000 he was for 32 tournaments either sekiwake or komusubi , more often than any other sumo fighter except for Kotonishiki (34). Four times during this period Kaiō had to accept brief relegations to the upper maegashira ranks, partly as a result of injuries. Also on four occasions Kaiō achieved as runner-up in tournaments (Jun-Yūshō) respectable successes, for the first time at the November 1996 tournament in his home prefecture.

Battle for yokozuna promotion

His final athletic breakthrough came in May 2000 when he won the Natsu basho with 14-1. After further constant performances, Kaiō was finally led as Ōzeki for the first time in September 2000 . He held this rank continuously until the end of his career for a total of 65 tournaments, which otherwise only Chiyotaikai has achieved. 2001 Kaiō won two Yushō (March, July), but was injured in the May tournament, which he missed promotion to the highest yokozuna rank. Another title followed in July 2003.

Between 2000 and 2003, Kaiō's long-time rivals Wakanohana, Akebono, Takanohana and Musashimaru had to end their careers, respectively. In 2004 Kaiō came closer to yokozuna promotion than ever again in his career: In September he won his fifth yūshō with 13-2 wins. At the follow-up tournament in November he stayed one victory behind the new yokozuna Asashōryū and was again not promoted. Alternatively, the Sumo Association would have accepted 13 wins without a tournament win as a criterion for promotion, but Kaiō missed this mark by a success. This was the eleventh and last Jun-Yusho in his career, in addition to his five Yusho. Measured by his tournament victories, he is the most successful fighter who was never promoted to yokozuna. In January 2005 Kaiō got another chance to secure promotion with 13 wins, but he had to cancel the tournament injured.

Durability records

Kaiō remained one of the stronger Sumōtori in the field, but from 2005 could no longer intervene decisively in the fight for the tournament victories, since the sport was dominated by Asashōryū and Hakuhō . Several injuries made Kaiō to create. A total of thirteen times he was in danger of relegation as an Ōzeki ( kadoban ), more often than anyone except for Chiyotaikai, but was able to avert the downgrade with a kachi-koshi .

But Kaiō succeeded in his later career to set up several durability records. From the January 2010 tournament, he temporarily held the record for most wins in the Makuuchi division. On the last day of the May 2010 tournament, he took the 1,000th career victory, a mark only yokozuna Chiyonofuji had achieved before him . On July 20, 2011, during the Nagoya Basho, Kaiō declared his career end.

Web links

Commons : Kaiō Hiroyuki  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/ss20041123a2.html