Aotsurugi Kenta

Aotsurugi Kenta (born 16 December 1982 as Tevita Lato Taufa) is a former professional sumo wrestler from Tongatapu, Tonga. He made his debut in 2001 but had many injury problems. In 2006, he obtained Japanese citizenship, adopting the official name of Tebita Togawa. He retired in May 2009.

Aotsurugi Kenta
碧剣 健太
Personal information
BornTevita Lato Taufa
(1982-12-16) 16 December 1982
Tonga
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight126.5 kg (279 lb)
Career
StableTagonoura
Record154-126-42
DebutMarch, 2001
Highest rankSandanme 1 (January, 2009)
RetiredMay, 2009
Championships1 (Jonokuchi)
* Up to date as of May 2009.

Career

As an amateur he competed in the lightweight category at the Junior World Sumo Championships in 2000, just missing out on a bronze medal.[1] He made his professional debut in March 2001, joining the small Tagonoura stable. His first shikona or fighting name was Hisanoumi. He reached as high as sandanme 24 in the fourth highest division in November 2004, but injury meant he was not able to participate in any tournaments from November 2005 until September 2006. As a result, he fell off the banzuke (ranking list) completely in July 2006.

He finally returned to the ring in November 2006 and fought three maezumo (pre-sumo) bouts – effectively beginning his career all over again from the very bottom.[1] He won all three bouts. At the end of 2006 he acquired Japanese citizenship. This allowed the Tagonoura stable to circumvent the Sumo Association's "one foreigner per heya" rule and recruit another Tongan.[2] He reappeared on the banzuke in January 2007, ranked at jonokuchi 29. He then took the jonokuchi championship with a 6–1 record. By May 2007 he had progressed to jonidan 20 where he turned in another fine 6–1 score. This earned him promotion back to sandanme for July. In his first tournament in sandanme since September 2005 he could manage only a 2–5 score. In the September 2007 tournament, despite missing his first bout, he went on to record five wins and just one loss.

At the end of 2007 he changed his shikona from Hisanoumi Taiyō to Aotsurugi Kenta. His score of 4–3 at Sandanme 25 in the September 2008 tournament pushed him up to a new highest rank of Sandanme 12 for November 2008 and he reached the top of the division in the January 2009 tournament. He scored three wins against four losses at Sandanme 1 in that tournament. He missed the May 2009 tournament, and announced his retirement from sumo. Although he had had knee problems in the past, his stablemaster Tagonoura Oyakata (the former Kushimaumi) said that he had simply lost the will to fight.[3]

Career record
Aotsurugi Kenta[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
2001 x (Maezumo) East Jonokuchi #25
5–2
 		 East Jonidan #95
4–3
 		 East Jonidan #74
3–4
 		 West Jonidan #92
4–3
 
2002 West Jonidan #66
4–3
 		 West Jonidan #42
3–4
 		 East Jonidan #62
5–2
 		 West Jonidan #22
3–4
 		 West Jonidan #45
5–2
 		 West Jonidan #6
2–5
 
2003 East Jonidan #40
4–3
 		 West Jonidan #18
3–4
 		 East Jonidan #38
4–3
 		 West Jonidan #16
4–3
 		 East Sandanme #98
5–2
 		 West Sandanme #61
1–6
 
2004 West Sandanme #94
5–2
 		 West Sandanme #60
2–5
 		 West Sandanme #86
5–2
 		 East Sandanme #53
4–3
 		 East Sandanme #36
4–3
 		 East Sandanme #24
1–6
 
2005 West Sandanme #56
4–3
 		 East Sandanme #38
3–4
 		 East Sandanme #55
5–2
 		 West Sandanme #28
1–2–4
 		 West Sandanme #65
4–3
 		 East Sandanme #51
Sat out due to injury
0–0–7
2006 West Jonidan #11
Sat out due to injury
0–0–7		 West Jonidan #81
Sat out due to injury
0–0–7		 West Jonokuchi #9
Sat out due to injury
0–0–7		 (Banzukegai) (Banzukegai) (Maezumo)
2007 West Jonokuchi #29
6–1–PP
Champion
 		 East Jonidan #61
5–2
 		 West Jonidan #20
6–1
 		 West Sandanme #57
2–5
 		 West Sandanme #81
5–1–1
 		 East Sandanme #51
4–2–1
 
2008 East Sandanme #38
3–4
 		 West Sandanme #47
2–4–1
 		 West Sandanme #73
3–4
 		 West Sandanme #83
6–1
 		 East Sandanme #25
4–3
 		 East Sandanme #12
4–3
 
2009 West Sandanme #1
3–4
 		 West Sandanme #15
4–3
 		 West Sandanme #4
Retired
0–0–7		 x x x
Record given as win-loss-absent    Top Division Champion Top Division Runner-up Retired Lower Divisions

Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique     Also shown: ★=Kinboshi; P=Playoff(s)
Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi

Makuuchi ranks: Yokozuna — Ōzeki — Sekiwake — Komusubi — Maegashira

See also

References
  1. Gilbert, Howard (February 2009). "Amateur angles" (PDF). Sumo Fan Magazine. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
  2. Buckton, Mark (Jan 23, 2007). "Numbers break records, character creates legends". Japan Times. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  3. Kintamayama (May 27, 2009). "May 2009 retirees". Sumo Forum. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  4. "Aotsurugi Kenta Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
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