Baruto Kaito

把瑠都 凱斗 Baruto Kaito
Personal information
Born	Kaido Höövelson (1984-11-05) November 5, 1984 Rakvere, Estonia
Height	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Weight	188 kg (414 lb; 29.6 st)
Career
Stable	Onoe, formerly Mihogaseki
Current rank	Ōzeki
Record	346-163-57
Debut	May, 2004
Highest rank	Ōzeki (May, 2010)
Championships	3 (Jūryō) 1 (Makushita) 1 (Jonidan) 1 (Jonokuchi)
Special Prizes	Fighting Spirit (5) Outstanding Performance (1) Technique (1)
* Up to date as of July 2011.

Baruto Kaito (把瑠都 凱斗, born November 5, 1984 as Kaido Höövelson) is a professional sumo wrestler from Rakvere, Estonia. Making his debut in May 2004, he is one of only two Estonians ever to join the sport in Japan, and the first to reach the top division, in May 2006. After suffering a number of injury problems in 2007, he reached the third highest rank of sekiwake in November 2008, and was promoted to ōzeki rank after finishing the March 2010 tournament with a score of 14-1. He has been a tournament runner-up four times and earned five special prizes for Fighting Spirit, one for Outstanding Performance and one for Technique.

Early career

Baruto outside a September 2008 tournament.

His family owned a cattle farm and he was used to hard physical labour as a child. His father died when Kaido was sixteen years old and he worked as a nightclub bouncer to earn a living. He played basketball as a teenager and also won a national judo championship in Estonia. He was introduced to amateur sumo through his judo coach Riho Rannikmaa, and an official from the Kagoshima Prefecture Sumo Association Kazuo Kurazono encouraged him to join the professional sport. Due to the restrictions on foreigners entering sumo, the only stable with a place available was Mihogaseki. He was given the shikona or fighting name of Baruto, a reference to the Japanese name of the Baltic sea, and made his professional debut in May 2004. He moved very quickly up the rankings, reaching the jūryō division after only 8 tournaments (tied for the third fastest rise to sekitori status since 1958 when the current 6 tournament a year format was adopted) and compiling a record of 41-8 on the way.

Baruto won the jūryō division March 2006 honbasho tournament with a perfect 15-0 result. This was only the fourth time ever that a jūryō wrestler has won the championship with such a record. He was the first to achieve this since Kitanofuji, who ultimately reached the top yokozuna rank, in 1963. As a result of this performance he was promoted to makuuchi, the highest division, for the first time in his career in May 2006. It is likely that Baruto could have achieved a more rapid rise to the top division, were it not for him suffering from appendicitis in November 2005, the resulting absence from the tournament sending him back down to the third highest makushita division temporarily. Despite this, his rise to the top division in two years is equal to the second fastest ever.

Top division career

In his first tournament in the top division Baruto scored a strong 11-4 record and won the kanto-sho (or Fighting Spirit Prize). After a second winning record in July and another promotion, Baruto's quick ascent through the ranks halted at maegashira 1. He withdrew from the September tournament with an injury, which lowered his standing to maegashira 6 in the November tournament. The result of 10-5 there took him up to maegashira 3, but he was again injured in the January 2007 tournament. He suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. He was unable to compete in the March tournament as well and his ranking suffered, resulting in a return to the jūryō ranks. In May he won the jūryō championship with a 14-1 record, resulting in an immediate return to makuuchi in July to the position of maegashira 14 East. However he re-injured his knee on the opening day and decided to withdraw from the tournament. It was the third time he had injured the knee, each time in a different place. He has not yet undergone surgery, which would require a lengthy lay-off.

In September 2007, despite being clearly still troubled by his knee, he took his third jūryō division championship with a 13-2 record. This was enough to earn promotion back to the top division for November. He was in contention for the championship until the final days of the tournament when he was defeated by ōzeki Chiyotaikai and komusubi Ama. He finished with an 11-4 record and was awarded his second Fighting Spirit Prize.

Baruto in May 2009.

In the January 2008 tournament Baruto produced a 7-8 score, the first time in his career that he has completed a tournament and finished with more losses than wins. He performed much better in March, finishing as joint runner-up with 12 wins and being awarded another Fighting Spirit Prize. In the May 2008 tournament he was unable to defeat any of the top rankers and could only manage five wins. In the July 2008 tournament, Baruto finished with a 10-5 score, assuring a komusubi debut in September.

In his first appearance as komusubi in the Aki Basho, Baruto managed an 8-7 score, while having a less than perfect start to the tournament. He was just 2-7 after 9 bouts where he competed with only sanyaku wrestlers. His last six matches were against wrestlers from the maegashira ranks and there Baruto managed to hold his ground. He was promoted to sekiwake rank for the Kyushu Basho in November, as the west sekiwake Toyonoshima could not hold his position after a 6-9 finish in the Aki Basho, thus leaving an opening for the position. He came through with a winning record in his sekiwake debut.

Baruto had an excellent start to the January 2009 tournament, winning his first six matches. However he began losing in the second week and finished on 9-6. By contrast, he struggled during the first week of the March tournament in facing the top ranked wrestlers and stood at 3-6 after nine days, but he maintained his rank with a kachi-koshi victory on the final day. He is the first sekiwake to hold his rank for four straight tournaments since his debut since Asashōryū in 2002. He lost the rank in May 2009, but fighting from the maegashira 3 position in July he produced a strong 11-4 record and returned to the komusubi rank for the September tournament. There he became the first non-yokozuna since Hoshi in 1986 to defeat five ōzeki in one tournament. He finished with a fine 12-3 record, guaranteeing his return to sekiwake, and was awarded his fourth Fighting Spirit prize. He scored nine wins in the next tournament.

Ōzeki promotion

Baruto at the January 2010 basho in Tokyo

On the seventh day of the January 2010 tournament he finally managed to defeat a yokozuna, Hakuho, by sukuinage, or beltless arm throw, his first win over a yokozuna in nineteen attempts. This earned him his first Outstanding Performance award, and he finished on 12-3. He became only the third wrestler to compile 33 wins over three tournaments in a sanyaku rank and not be promoted to ōzeki, following Kotogahama in 1957 and Miyabiyama (twice) in 2006. At the March tournament in Osaka it was indicated by Sumo Association official Tomozuna Oyakata that he would need to win at least 13 bouts and be in contention for the yusho to earn ōzeki promotion. Baruto was nursing an injury to his left thumb throughout the basho, which he picked up in a training session with Aran. However, he produced his best score in the top division to date of 14-1, and lost only to Hakuho on Day 11. He was in contention for the championship until the final bout of the tournament, which Hakuho won over Harumafuji to complete an undefeated 15-0 performance. Baruto was rewarded with special prizes for Fighting Spirit and Technique, the first time since Kotomitsuki in July 2007 that one wrestler has received two prizes in the same tournament.

Baruto's promotion was officially confirmed by the Sumo Association on March 31. Speaking to reporters at his Onoe stable, he said, "I want to be cheerful and be an ōzeki that can live up to the expectations of the fans." He also made clear his determination to win the yusho, as "unless I win a championship I can't move up to yokozuna." However, he has not yet challenged for the championship as an ōzeki, his best score to date being 11-4.

Fighting style

Baruto has a solid and straightforward yotsu-sumo style, concentrating on techniques which involve grabbing the opponent's mawashi or belt. He prefers a migi-yotsu grip, with his right hand inside and left hand outside his opponent's arms. His most common winning kimarite or technique is overwhelmingly yori-kiri, or force out. Due to his great strength he is known for using tsuri-dashi, or lift out, a technique which has declined in recent years because of the increasing weight of wrestlers. Baruto used this technique three times in the July 2009 tournament alone. He also frequently uses uwatenage, or overarm throw. He was forced to change his yotsu style in his successful ōzeki promotion basho of March 2010, as his thumb injury meant he was less effective on the mawashi, and he used a more aggressive slapping and thrusting attack instead.

At 188 kilograms, Baruto is the second heaviest man in the top division after Gagamaru. He is popular among other wrestlers due to his friendly character and is known for always smiling, win or lose. His stablemaster Onoe Oyakata commented, "All wrestlers have their unique personalities. Baruto is friendly and gentle and he shouldn't change that. He has to win to get promoted but outside the ring I don't want him to forget to smile." Baruto is also known for taking great care not to injure his opponents.

Family

In February 2009 he announced his marriage, to Elena Tregubova, a 26 year old Russian from Vladivostok.

Personal

Baruto speaks five languages: Estonian, Russian, English, German, and Japanese.

Top division record

Baruto Kaito

Year	January Hatsu basho, Tokyo	March Haru basho, Osaka	May Natsu basho, Tokyo	July Nagoya basho, Nagoya	September Aki basho, Tokyo	November Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka
2006	x	x	West Maegashira #11 11–4 F	West Maegashira #4 9–6	East Maegashira #1 4–7–4	West Maegashira #6 10–5
2007	West Maegashira #3 2–2–11	West Maegashira #13 Sat out due to injury 0–0–15	(Juryo)	East Maegashira #14 0–2–13	(Juryo)	East Maegashira #16 11–4 F
2008	West Maegashira #6 7–8	East Maegashira #7 12–3 F	West Maegashira #1 5–10	West Maegashira #5 10–5	East Komusubi 8–7	West Sekiwake 9–6
2009	East Sekiwake 9–6	East Sekiwake 8–7	East Sekiwake 4–11	West Maegashira #3 11–4	East Komusubi 12–3 F	East Sekiwake 9–6
2010	East Sekiwake 12–3 O	East Sekiwake 14–1 FT	West Ōzeki 10–5	East Ōzeki 8–7	East Ōzeki 9–6	West Ōzeki 11–4
2011	West Ōzeki 9–6	East Ōzeki Tournament Cancelled 0–0–0	East Ōzeki 10–5	East Ōzeki 11–4	x	x
Record given as wins–losses–absences    Top division champion Top division runner-up Retired Lower divisions Non-participation 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

• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of sumo tournament second division winners
• List of active sumo wrestlers

External links

• Baruto fact sheet on Grand Sumo Home Page
• Interview with Baruto
• Japan Times article
• Sumo statistics on Baruto