Hakuōhō Tetsuya

Hakuōhō Tetsuya (Japanese: 伯桜鵬 哲也, born August 22, 2003 as Ochiai Tetsuya (落合 哲也)) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kurayoshi, Tottori. After a successful amateur career, he turned professional in January 2023, via makushita tsukedashi system, winning that division's championship and being promoted to sumo's top division in July 2023. Nicknamed "Reiwa monster" thanks to his record-breaking promotions, his highest rank has been maegashira 9. He wrestles for Miyagino stable, whose oyakata is former yokozuna Hakuhō.

In this Japanese shikona name, the surname is Hakuōhō.
Hakuōhō Tetsuya
伯桜鵬 哲也
Hakuōhō in April 2023
Personal information
BornTetsuya Ochiai
(2003-08-22) August 22, 2003
Kurayoshi, Tottori, Japan
Height1.81 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Weight158 kg (348 lb; 24.9 st)
Career
StableMiyagino
Current ranksee below
Record42-10
DebutJanuary, 2023
Highest rankMaegashira 9 (September, 2023)
ChampionshipsMakushita (1)
Special PrizesFighting Sprit (1)
Technique (1)
* Up to date as of 24 September 2023.

Early life and sumo background

As a kid, Ochiai played football from the first grade to the fourth grade. Because of his physique and poor playing habits, he was nevertheless advised to quit the sport.[1] While in second grade at Seitoku Elementary School in Kurayoshi, the same school as former yokozuna Kotozakura, he took part in the "Sakura-zumo" children's tournament and decided to take up the sport, but only began to wrestle regularly when he was in his fourth year of primary school.[1][2] He entered Tottori Nishi Junior High School, the sister school of Tottori Jōhoku High School, but had to hang in there, calling his father at the end of his first sumo training session to throw in the towel, the rigors of training being too much for him.[1] Encouraged by Ichinojō, who was Jōhoku High's club captain, he nevertheless kept at it and during the junior high school national championships in his second year, he defeated the reigning champion, citing this moment as the one that made him love sumo.[1] In ninth grade, he won the Hakuhō Cup junior high school tournament.[3] However, it was also during these years that he injured his shoulder, a condition that has not yet fully healed.[4] He then entered Tottori Jōhoku High School and won the title of high school yokozuna in his second and third year of high school competition;[2] in his third year, he was in the top eight at the All-Japan Championships and thus was eligible for sandanme tsukedashi.[5] After graduating from high school, he focused on healing his shoulder injury and worked at his father's metalwork machinery company Noda Gumi in Tottori. By virtue of winning the All Japan Corporate Sumo Championship in September 2022 (and thus being named Corporate Yokozuna) he was eligible to enter professional sumo as makushita tsukedashi.[6]

Career

Early life and career

At the invitation of Miyagino oyakata (the 69th yokozuna Hakuhō), Ochiai joined the Miyagino stable.[7] He made his professional debut in January 2023 at the rank of makushita 15 to reflect his amateur success (makushita tsukedashi). He won the makushita title with an undefeated record of seven wins and was subsequently promoted to the jūryō division for March, becoming the first wrestler to earn a jūryō promotion after just one tournament in 90 years.[8] Since the abolition of the makushita tsukedachi system for promotion to the top of the makushita division in September 2023, Ochiai is likely to be the last wrestler to be promoted to the jūryō division in just one tournament in sumo's modern history.[9] Given Ochiai's quick rise to the second-highest division, Miyagino confessed he hadn't had the time to think of a shikona for his apprentice.[10] Thanks to his record-breaking promotion, Ochiai began to be nicknamed Reiwa no kaibutsu (令和の怪物), meaning 'Reiwa monster', in reference to ōzeki Musōyama who was nicknamed 'Heisei monster' after he too was promoted to jūryō after being undefeated as a makushita.[11][12]

Jūryō career

Ochiai experienced his first defeat in professional sumo on day 2 of the Osaka tournament (in March 2023) against the other newly promoted jūryō, Tamashōhō.[13] On the 6th day of the same tournament, he announced that he had made the unusual decision to become the tsukebito of makuuchi wrestler Hokuseihō because he wanted to experience this role himself and considered it a learning experience.[14] He finished the March 2023 tournament with 10–5 record.

Ochiai was promoted to jūryō 8 in the May 2023 tournament. He finished the tournament with 14 wins along with Gōnoyama, who defeated Ochiai on Day 11. The two wrestlers were thus competing for the jūryō championship and Ochiai would have been the first wrestler under the age of 20 to win the title since his master Hakuhō's victory at the 2004 tournament.[15] Ochiai was however beaten again by Gōnoyama in the jūryō championship playoff. It marked the first time since 1949 that the jūryō championship was decided in a playoff between two wrestlers with 14–1 records.[16]

After the May 2023 tournament it was announced that Ochiai received the shikona, or ring name, Hakuōhō (伯桜鵬) from his stablemaster. The ring name is a combination of "Haku" (伯), referring to the province of Hōki (伯耆国) which became Tottori Prefecture, "Ō" (桜) from "Sakura-zumo" (桜ずもう), a sumo tournament in Kurayoshi in which he participated when he was a schoolboy and finally "Hō" (鵬) to refer to Ochiai's master, Hakuhō.[17]

Makuuchi career
Hakuōhō (then known as Ochiai) during the May 2023 tournament

On 26 June 2023, Hakuōhō's name appeared on the July 2023 sumo tournament rankings at the position of west maegashira 17, ushering his entry into sumo's top division in just his fourth professional tournament.[18] Hakuōhō is the sixth-youngest wrestler since 1990 to reach the top division, doing so at the age of 19 years and 10 months, as well as the second wrestler since the Shōwa era to reach makuuchi in three tournaments since their debut (the other being Endō).[19] Upon his promotion, Hakuōhō told reporters that his goal for his first top division tournament was 12 wins and the Shukun-shō (Outstanding Performance prize), which his stablemaster Miyagino achieved in his first makuuchi appearance in May 2004. Hakuōhō said that he hadn't gotten used to his new name yet, but said that it felt fresh. He said he was satisfied with his performances in his first three tournaments, but that from now on it would not be so easy.[20]

Hakuōhō began his tournament with a win over Aoiyama, and went on to win the majority of his matches although he also lost to former san'yaku Takarafuji (on Day 3) and Ryūden (Day 5).[21][22] On Day 6, he overcame Gōnoyama, who had beaten him twice for the jūryō division title in the previous tournament; defeating him by hatakikomi and bringing his 5-match winning streak to a halt.[23] In September 2023, Hakuōhō revealed to the press that during the tournament his shoulder would dislocate after days of fighting, having dislocated a total of three times during the duration of the tournament.[24] Wishing to continue to wrestle to satisfy the expectations of those around him and the public, Hakuōhō reached a positive kachi-koshi record on Day 11, with a victory over the former ōzeki Takayasu.[25] He then went on to defeat Komusubi Abi the following day. This victory marked the first time a newly-promoted makuuchi had won a match against a wrestler currently in san'yaku since Ichinojō defeated then-ōzeki Kisenosato at the September 2014 tournament.[26] Hakuōhō then went on to achieve back-to-back victories on Day 13 and 14 over tournament leaders maegashira Nishikigi and Hokutofuji, strengthening his own chances of claiming the makuuchi championship.[27][28] At the end of the tournament, Hakuōhō faced Hōshōryū, both recording 11 wins to 3 losses. The winner of this match would have to challenge Hokutofuji, who, with 12 wins and 3 losses had secured a place in a playoff for the makuuchi championship. Hōshōryū nevertheless defeated Hakuōhō by uwatenage, effectively eliminating Hakuōhō from the title race.[29] On the fifteenth day of the tournament Hakuōhō was however announced as the recipient of the sanshō awards for Technique and Fighting Spirit. These prizes, awarded in just four tournaments, make Hakuōhō the fastest prize winner in sumo history, breaking the records set by former sekiwake Ichinojō and former ōzeki Miyabiyama, who had won the awards in five tournaments since their professional debuts.[30]

A few days after end of the July tournament, it was announced that Hakuōhō would withdraw from the summer regional tours because of left shoulder pain. On 29 August, one day after the September banzuke was released, he told reporters that he was not in very good condition. At the time he did not ruled out the possibility of withdrawing from the September tournament, saying that even if he did and subsequently dropped in the rankings, his goal was not to be in makuuchi but to pursue his dream and do his best.[31] On September 4, it was confirmed that Hakuōhō would indeed be absent for the September tournament. His master Miyagino had already raised the possibility of an absence on August 27 due to a possible operation to treat pain caused by a subluxation of the left shoulder, an old injury of Hakuōhō's.[32] The operation in question finally took place on August 31, forcing Hakuōhō into a period of remission that could last until the end of the year to achieve complete recovery.[33]

Career record
Hakuōhō Tetsuya[34]
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
2023 Makushita tsukedashi #15
7–0
Champion
 		 West Jūryō #14
10–5
 		 West Jūryō #8
14–1–P
 		 West Maegashira #17
11–4
FT		 West Maegashira #9
Sat out due to injury
0–0–15		 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
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  2. "Towards the dream of "yokozuna": Tetsuya Ochiai, on his debut as a sumo wrestler" 「横綱」の夢に向かって～落合哲也 大相撲デビューへ～. nhk.jp (in Japanese). NHK. 2023-01-06. Retrieved 2023-01-23.
  3. "実業団横綱・落合哲也が宮城野部屋入門　幕下15枚目格付け出し承認　初場所デビューへ". Sports Nippon (in Japanese). 1 December 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  4. "新入幕の伯桜鵬「勝つ気しかない。最高の準備をする」痛めている左肩を考慮し相撲を取らず調整". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 6 July 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  5. "High school yokozuna Ochiai makes the top 8 of the All Japan Championships "I want to go pro soon" Qualifies for sandanme tsukedashi" 高校横綱の落合が全日本選手権８強「すぐプロいきたい」三段目付け出し資格. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 2021-12-05. Retrieved 2023-01-22.
  6. "Last year's high school yokozuna, Tetsuya Ochiai, qualified for makushita 15 ranking, the second high school graduate in history since Ichinojō" 昨年の高校横綱・落合哲也が幕下15枚目格付け出し資格獲得 高卒では逸ノ城以来、史上2人目. Sports Nippon (in Japanese). 2022-09-18. Retrieved 2023-01-23.
  7. 2年連続 高校横綱 鳥取城北 落合哲也選手 宮城野部屋に入門へ. NHK News (in Japanese). 2022-12-01. Retrieved 2023-01-22.
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  19. "【名古屋場所番付発表】19歳10カ月の落合改め伯桜鵬が平成以降6位の年少新入幕　所要3場所は最速タイ" (in Japanese). Sports Nippon. 26 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
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  29. ""鬼の形相"豊昇龍　にらみ返す19歳"令和の怪物"伯桜鵬に貫禄勝ち！31歳・北勝富士との優勝決定戦へ" (in Japanese). Sports Nippon. 23 July 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
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