Hiradoumi Yūki

Sakaguchi Yūki comes from the city of Hirado, in the Nagasaki Prefecture. He started sumo wrestling at Himosashi Elementary School, under the guidance of former sandanme-wrestler Sakao Hiroki who's also from Hirado, but didn't take the sport seriously until sixth grade, mimicking the serious training of his elders in the club.[1] As a kid he participated in the Wanpaku National Sumo Championships for three consecutive years. In high school, he participated to the National Junior High School Sumo Championship. During this tournament, he stayed at the Sakaigawa stable to be lodged and trained there.[1] In 2016, after graduating from junior high school, he decided to join professional sumo and entered Sakaigawa stable because its head coach (former komusubi Ryōgoku) is also from Nagasaki. During his shin-deshi presentation, he shared the ring with Asanoyama and Yutakayama. In 2017, he changed his shikona to Hiradoumi to pay homage to his hometown. During his years at the stable he struck up a friendship with Tsushimanada, with whom he maintains a friendly rivalry, competing with him at the time to see who would be promoted to sekitori ahead of the other.[1]

In 2021, it was announced that he will be promoted to sumo's second highest division (jūryō) for the November tournament.[2] He is the first wrestler within his stable to reach sekitoriship since Shironoryū , who reached the jūryō division in 2010.[3] Following a strong performance in the July 2022 tournament, he was promoted to the makuuchi division.[4] It was the first time in eleven years that a wrestler from Nagasaki prefecture was promoted to the top division. The last wrestler was Sadanofuji, Hiradoumi's coach at Sakaigawa stable, who made his makuuchi debut at the Kyūshū tournament in 2011.[5]

Hiradoumi entered the top division during the September 2022 tournament, at the rank of maegashira 16. However, he suffered a narrow loss in his first tournament, achieving a 7-8 make-kochi record. In the following tournament of November, he managed to maintain his makuuchi rank due to the balance of promotion and demotion of other wrestlers. Even with a losing record, his performance received praises, notably from former yokozuna Kitanofuji, who praised his energy and his "unrivaled training enthusiasm".[6] In the last tournament of 2022, he managed his first kachi-koshi in the top division by the twelfth day. He was listed as a potential Fighting spirit prize recipient but was shelved because he did not reach the majority of the attending committee members votes.[7] In the first banzuke of 2023 Hiradoumi was ranked maegashira 10.[8] He secured kachi-koshi at the January tournament on day 14 with a win over Kotoekō.[9] Reaching his highest rank, Hiradoumi notably won his match against former ōzeki Takayasu on Day 8,[10] but suffered a close losing record. After a good tournament in March 2023, Hiradoumi was promoted to Maegashira 5 for the July tournament of the same year. However, he suffered a negative record (make-koshi) and had to declare himself kyūjō for the final day of the tournament, having been seen limping after his fight against Abi.[11]