Tochinoshin Tsuyoshi

栃 ノ 心 剛
Tochinoshin Tsuyoshi

Personal data
real name	Levan Gorgadze
Born	October 13, 1987
place of birth	Mtskheta, Georgia
size	1.92 m
Weight	177 kg
Career
Heya	Kasugano
rank	Ōzeki
Career record	516-411-64 399-385-26 (makuuchi)
debut	March 2006
Highest rank	Ōzeki (May 2018)
Tournament victories	1 (Makuuchi) 3 (Jūryō) 2 (Makushita)
As of: Nagoya Basho 2018.

Tochinoshin Tsuyoshi ( Japanese 栃 ノ 心 剛 ; born October 13, 1987 in Mtskheta as Georgian ლევან გორგაძე , Levan Gorgadze ) is a Georgian sumo wrestler in the Japanese Makuuchi division.

Sumo career

As a member of the stable Kasugano-beya Gorgadze denied under the ring name Tochinoshin in May 2006 his first tournament in professional sumo. In September of the same year he remained in the Jonidan division for the first time without a defeat (7-0) and reached the playoff for the tournament victory. There he lost to Tokitairyū. In 2007 Tochinoshin made his debut in the Makushita division. There he got six more kachi-koshi in a row, which is why he was allowed to compete in Jūryō a year later . In his Jūryō debut, he won the yusho straight away with a 12-3 record . He finished the following tournament 9-6. This meant promotion to the Makuuchi division. After his first tournament in Makuuchi in May 2008 (7-8), he immediately established himself in the maegashira ranks. In November 2008, Tochinoshin met San'yaku - Rikishi for the first time as Maegashira 4 and finished the basho with a disappointing 3-12 record. In the following year, however, he fought his way back to the upper maegashira ranks and reached Maegashira 1 East in September 2009 . During the Aki Basho he defeated the Ōzeki Harumafuji and Chiyotaikai , but only finished with 4-11 overall. In the next tournament Tochinoshin started as Maegashira 8 and impressed with a record of 12-3. For this he received both his first Jun-Yusho (tournament runner-up) and his first Kantō-shō . The second Kantō-shō followed in May 2010. Although Tochinoshin only scored a close 8-7, he defeated four Ōzeki in a row from day 2 to day 5 . In addition, he was rewarded with the promotion to Komusubi , but could not hold this rank. In May 2011, as Maegashira 6, he again achieved a balance of 12-3. He lost on the last day against Ōzeki Harumafuji and therefore missed a possible yusho playoff against Yokozuna Hakuhō . In the end he was left with the second Jun-Yusho and the third Kantō-shō of his career. For the next two years, Tochinoshin mostly belonged to the upper half of the maegashira and even made his comeback in the komusubi rank in September 2012 . He finished the 2013 Natsu Basho with a disastrous 2-13 record and then slipped to Maegashira 11th .

Injury and return to the Makuuchi Division

On the fifth day of the 2013 Nagoya Basho, Tochinoshin tore his anterior cruciate ligament while fighting Tokushōryū. Because of this injury, he missed the next three tournaments and was consequently demoted to the Makushita division. There he got the yusho twice in a row and thus managed the immediate return to the Jūryō division. On his comeback in the second highest division, he was again very strong with a 13-2 record. On the last day of the tournament he forced a playoff for the overall victory by defeating Ichinojō , which he also decided for himself. In September 2014 he started as Jūryō 5 and this time he even managed a Zenshō-Yusho (15-0). Tochinoshin had thus managed to return to the Makuuchi Division with a total of four tournament victories. In his Makuuchi comeback he reached an 11-4, for which he was awarded the Kantō-shō. In 2015 he was finally back in the upper maegashira ranks. In March, he received his first kinboshi for defeating yokozuna Harumafuji.

At the following Natsu Basho he achieved a score of 9-6 as Maegashira 1 (West), but was not promoted to Komusubi , as the two places were awarded to Takarafuji (M1e, 9-6) and Myōgiryū (S1w, 7-8) . In July 2015, Tochinoshin succeeded in another kachi-koshi, which this time was sufficient for promotion to komusubi . Despite five defeats in the first seven days, he finished the Aki Basho 2015 with a strong 10-5 record. He then received the Kanto-shō for the fifth time in his career.

2018 Emperor Cup winner

As early as January 26, 2018, it became clear that Tochinoshin (Maegashira 3 West), after winning 12 of his 13 tournament fights, would be in the playoff for victory in the 2018 New Year's tournament. After he won against Shōhōzan on January 27, 2018 , he also won the New Year's tournament the day before it ended, as he was at the top of the list with his 13-1 victory and no other rikishi had the opportunity to win the tournament last Day to dispute. This makes the Georgian the third European sumo wrestler to have won a major tournament. He is also the first maegashira since 2012 to win a major tournament.

Ascent to the ozeki

After scoring 36 wins in three consecutive tournaments, Tochinoshin was promoted to Ōzeki in May 2018 . A victory over Yokozuna Hakuho in the 2018 Natsu Basho is, in addition to the generally strong performance, also a factor that was taken into account.

Combat Statistics

year	Hatsu (January)	Haru (March)	Natsu (May)	Nagoya (July)	Aki (September)	Kyushu (November)
2006		Maezumo 2-0	Jonokuchi 17 East 5-2	Jonidan 95 East 5-1-1	Jonidan 49 West 7-0 D	Sandanme 49 West 6-1
2007	Makushita 59 East 5-2	Makushita 41 West 5-2	Makushita 28 East 5-2	Makushita 18 West 6-1	Makushita 6 East 5-2	Makushita 1 East 5-2
2008	Juryo 12 West 12-3 Y	Juryo 4 East 9-6	Maegashira 14 East 7-8	Maegashira 14 W 8-7	Maegashira 10 East 8-7	Maegashira 4 West 3-12
2009	Maegashira 11 W 8-7	Maegashira 10 W 6-9	Maegashira 13 W 9-6	Maegashira 5 West 9-6	Maegashira 1 East 4-11	Maegashira 8 West 12-3 y
2010	Maegashira 1 West 5-10	Maegashira 6 West 9-6	Maegashira 2 West 8-7	Komusubi 1 West 6-9	Maegashira 2 West 9-6	Komusubi 1 West 6-9
2011	Maegashira 2 East 4-11	called off	Maegashira 6 West 12-3 y	Komusubi 1 West 6-9	Maegashira 4 East 8-7	Maegashira 2 East 2-13
2012	Maegashira 9 East 10-5	Maegashira 3 West 5-10	Maegashira 8 East 9-6	Maegashira 4 East 9-6	Komusubi 1 West 6-9	Maegashira 3 East 5-10
2013	Maegashira 6 East 9-6	Maegashira 1 West 7-8	Maegashira 2 West 2-13	Maegashira 11 W 3-3-9	Juryo 1 West 0-0-15	Juryo 14 West 0-0-15
2014	Makushita 15 West 0-0-7	Makushita 55 West 7-0 Y	Makushita 6 West 7-0 Y	Juryo 12 East 13-2 Y	Juryo 5 West 15-0 Y	Maegashira 8 East 11-4
2015	Maegashira 1 West 6-9	Maegashira 4 West 8-7	Maegashira 1 West 9-6	Maegashira 1 East 8-7	Komusubi 1 East 10-5	Komusubi 1 East 7-8
2016	Komusubi 1 West 6-9	Maegashira 2 West 6-9	Maegashira 4 West 10-5	Sekiwake 1 West 6-9	Maegashira 2 East 5-10	Maegashira 6 West 10-5
2017	Komusubi 1 West 0-6-9	Maegashira 10 East 7-8	Maegashira 10 East 12-3	Maegashira 2 East 9-6	Maegashira 1 East 4-11	Maegashira 6 West 9-6
2018	Maegashira 3 West 14-1 Y	Sekiwake West 10-5	Sekiwake East 13-2	Ōzeki 2 West 5-2-8	Ōzeki 2 West 9-6	Ōzeki 2 West 8-7
2019	Ōzeki 2 West 0-5-10	Ōzeki 2 East 7-8	Sekiwake 1 West 10-5	Ōzeki 2 West 0-6-9	Ōzeki 2 East 6-9	Ōzeki 2 East 2-3-10

Web links

Commons : Tochinoshin Tsuyoshi  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Info page of the Japanese Sumo Association
• Profile on Sumo Reference

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Results of Day 14 New Year's Tournament, Makuuchi Division . January 27, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
2. ↑ Tochinoshin clinches New Year Basho title for first career tournament triumph . January 27, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
3. ↑ Youtube Video: Match between Tochinoshin and Shohozan . January 27, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
4. ↑ Tochinoshin to be promoted to Ozeki champion . May 27, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2018.

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Tochinoshin is the family name, Tsuyoshi the first name.