Kyokushūzan Noboru
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Birth name | Davaagiin Batbayar | |
| Date of birth | March 8, 1973 | |
| Place of birth | Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia | |
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | |
| Weight | 141 kg (310 lb) | |
| Career* | ||
| Heya | Oshima | |
| Record | 560-600-2 | |
| Debut | March, 1992 | |
| Highest rank | Komusubi (March, 1997) | |
| Retired | November, 2006 | |
| Yusho | 2 (Jūryō) 1 (Makushita) |
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| Special Prizes | Outstanding Performance (1) Fighting Spirit (2) Technique (2) |
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| Gold stars | 5 (Akebono, Asashōryū, Musashimaru, Wakanohana (2)) |
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* Career information is correct as of July 2007. |
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Kyokushūzan Noboru (born March 8, 1973 as Davaagiin Batbayar (Mongolian: Даваагийн Батбаяр) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia) is a former professional sumo wrestler and current politician of Democratic Party. He was the first wrestler from Mongolia to reach sumo's top makuuchi division.
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[edit] Career
He was a diligent practitioner of Mongolian wrestling from a young age, but had ambitions of becoming a policeman. However in 1991, a Japanese sumo training stable master, Ōshima-oyakata (the former ōzeki Asahikuni) went to Mongolia to recruit promising wrestlers for sumo. The young Davaagiin Batbayar happened to notice the advertisement and applied along with 120 others. He was selected and went to Japan with five others, including Kyukotenhō and Kyokutenzan. They were first Mongolians ever to join sumo. However six months later, due to cultural differences, language problems, and an extremely hard training regime, five of them including Kyokushūzan ran away from the training stable to the Mongolian embassy. He was eventually persuaded to return by his stablemaster, and also Kyokutenzan.
In March 1995, he was promoted to the jūryō division, and in September 1996 to the top makuuchi division. He gained great popularity with audiences due to his variety of techniques, which were influenced by Mongolian wrestling. Less often seen in sumo, they surprised many of his early opponents. He was known as the gino depato, or "department store of techniques."[1]In the May 2002 tournament, he won his first eight bouts in a row, using eight different techniques.[1] However, because he was in danger of injuring other wrestlers, he was eventually told by the Sumo Association to stop using some of them, and by the end of his career he had a much more defensive (and less successful) style.[1]
After his promotion to the top division, he was never demoted to lower divisions. After his single appearance as a komusubi in March 1997 he was ranked as a maegashira for 58 tournaments in a row, a record in the sumo world.
He earned five kinboshi or gold stars for defeating yokozuna, the last coming in May 2003 against fellow Mongolian Asashōryū. Determined to get revenge in the next tournament, Asashōryū pulled on Kyokushūzan's topknot; a foul for which he was disqualified, the only time this has ever happened to a yokozuna.
As he succeeded on the ring, his popularity in Mongolia soared. Also, as he has contributed much to his country by establishing several foundations for the welfare of the youth and sick people, he is now regarded as one of the heroes of the country. In April 2004, he started to study on a correspondence course for an MSc in telecommunications at Waseda University in Japan. This is partly because the Mongolian president advised him to study while in Japan for his future.
He married in May 2000 to a Mongolian girl who was studying in Japan. The couple have a son and a daughter.[1]
[edit] Retirement from sumo
In November 2006, he suddenly announced his retirement two days into the Kyushu tournament. At the time this was thought to be because of a heart problem. A ceremony in his honour was held in Ulan-Bator at the end of 2006, attended by the Mongolian Prime Minister, who thanked him for strengthening the ties between Mongolia and Japan.[1] Kyokushūzan's danpatsu-shiki, the official retirement ceremony where the retired rikishi's topknot is cut off, was reportedly going to be held in Mongolia, but eventually took place at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Toyko on June 2, 2007.
It subsequently emerged that Kyokushūzan was the victim of an attempted extortion by gangsters, linked to the Sumiyoshi-kai crime syndicate.[2] Kyokushūzan told police that if it were not for this incident, he would not have retired.[2]
He now is a politician in Mongolia. In June 2008 he ran for election to the Mongolian parliament on the opposition Democratic Party ticket[3], and was elected.[4]
[edit] Top division record
| January Hatsu basho, Tokyo |
March Haru basho, Osaka |
May Natsu basho, Tokyo |
July Nagoya basho, Nagoya |
September Aki basho, Tokyo |
November Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | x | x | x | x | East Maegashira #15 9–6 |
West Maegashira #7 8–7 |
| 1997 | West Maegashira #3 9–6 T |
West Komusubi 4–11 |
West Maegashira #4 2–13 ★ |
West Maegashira #11 9–6 |
West Maegashira #3 3–12 |
West Maegashira #8 9–6 |
| 1998 | East Maegashira #4 5–10 |
East Maegashira #7 4–11 |
West Maegashira #13 9–6 |
West Maegashira #11 9–6 |
East Maegashira #5 4–11 |
East Maegashira #12 8–7 |
| 1999 | West Maegashira #8 9–6 |
East Maegashira #3 7–8 ★ |
East Maegashira #4 5–10 |
East Maegashira #7 9–6 |
East Maegashira #2 7–8 |
East Maegashira #3 5–10 |
| 2000 | East Maegashira #6 8–7 |
West Maegashira #1 5–10 ★ |
East Maegashira #4 5–10 |
East Maegashira #8 5–10 |
East Maegashira #14 9–6 |
East Maegashira #3 4–11 |
| 2001 | East Maegashira #10 8–7 |
West Maegashira #5 1–12–2 |
East Maegashira #15 11–4 |
East Maegashira #5 7–8 |
East Maegashira #6 6–9 |
East Maegashira #9 10–5 |
| 2002 | East Maegashira #1 6–9 ★ |
West Maegashira #3 2–13 |
East Maegashira #10 10–5 T |
West Maegashira #2 1–14 |
West Maegashira #11 9–6 |
East Maegashira #5 7–8 |
| 2003 | West Maegashira #6 7–8 |
West Maegashira #7 10–5 |
East Maegashira #3 8–7 O★ |
East Maegashira #2 4–11 |
East Maegashira #8 8–7 |
West Maegashira #5 8–7 |
| 2004 | West Maegashira #2 8–7 |
West Maegashira #1 4–11 |
West Maegashira #7 9–6 |
West Maegashira #3 3–12 |
West Maegashira #10 11–4 |
West Maegashira #4 2–13 |
| 2005 | West Maegashira #10 9–6 |
East Maegashira #6 5–10 |
West Maegashira #9 12–3 F |
West Maegashira #1 5–10 |
West Maegashira #4 4–11 |
East Maegashira #10 7–8 |
| 2006 | West Maegashira #11 7–8 |
East Maegashira #13 11–4 F |
East Maegashira #5 9–6 |
West Maegashira #1 3–12 |
East Maegashira #8 6–9 |
East Maegashira #10 Retired 0–2–13 |
| Record given as win-loss-absent Championship Retired Demoted from makuuchi Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique Also shown: ★=Kinboshi |
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[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Perrin, Francine (December 2006). "The Mongolian magician retires". Le Monde Du Sumo. Retrieved on 2008-07-03.
- ^ a b "Men attempting to extort Kyokushuzan arrested". Japan TimesOnline (2007-07-26). Retrieved on 2007-09-18.
- ^ Beck, Lindsay (2008-06-28). "Sumo star, singer enliven Mongolia election campaign". Reuters India. Retrieved on 2008-06-30.
- ^ "前相撲力士旭鷲山基本確定當選蒙古議會議員" (in Chinese), Xinfushi News (2008-06-30). Retrieved on 2008-07-02.
- ^ "Rikishi in Juryo and Makunouchi" (in English). szumo.hu. Retrieved on 2007-07-02.
