Kaisei Ichirō

Kaisei Ichirō
魁聖 一郎
Personal information
Born Ricardo Sugano
(1986-12-18) December 18, 1986
São Paulo, Brazil
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 181 kg (399 lb; 28.5 st)
Career
Stable Tomozuna
Current rank see below
Debut September, 2006
Highest rank Sekiwake (July, 2016)
Championships 1 (Jūryō)
Special Prizes Fighting Spirit (2)
* Up to date as of Nov 27, 2016.

Kaisei Ichirō (born December 18, 1986 as Ricardo Sugano) is a 3rd generation Japanese- Brazilian professional sumo wrestler (rikishi) from São Paulo, Brazil. Making his debut in September 2006,[1] he reached the top makuuchi division in May 2011.[2][3] His highest rank has been sekiwake. He has received two Fighting Spirit prizes to date.

Early life and sumo background

In his childhood, Sugano had no interest at all in soccer, as all his friends did, and didn't even bother to watch games on TV. He was more interested in grappling sports, such as judo, which he practiced for a time. When he was sixteen a friend of his father's suggested that his already large size would be very suitable for sumo. He began pursuing sumo and went on to win the all Brazil amateur sumo competition championship in the free weight category. At this time he believed that, at least in Brazilian amateur sumo, all one needed was size and power to win, and decided to travel to Japan to try out sumo. He was introduced to Tomozuna stable through an acquaintance and joined the stable in 2006.[4] The stable was already home to another Brazilian wrestler, Kaishin. He was given the shikona or ring name of Kaisei Ichirō. Ichirō was the name of Kaisei's late grandfather, who was Japanese.[5]

Career

Kaisei moved through the lower divisions quickly, reaching the fourth highest sandanme division in March 2007. He was promoted to the third makushita division after the March 2008 tournament, but then his progress stalled somewhat. He came through the September 2009 tournament undefeated (although he lost a playoff for the yūshō to Gagamaru) and in May 2010 became a sekitori by earning promotion to jūryō. He was the fourth Brazilian to make the jūryō division after Ryuko, Kuniazuma and Wakaazuma, but Kaisei was to surpass all of them by winning promotion to the top makuuchi division. After winning the jūryō division yūshō in November 2010 with an 11-4 record, he followed up with an 8-7 at Jūryō 1 in January 2011, which saw him reach maegashira 16 in the May Technical Examination tournament.

Kaisei won his first six bouts in his makuuchi debut, the first makuuchi debutant to do so since Takanonami in 1991. He went on to 8-0, the first to achieve that since Sadanoumi in 1980, and 9-0, running neck and neck with yokozuna Hakuhō, before suffering his first defeat to Tochinoshin on Day 10. He thus failed to emulate the great Taihō, who reached 11-0 in 1960. Nevertheless, his final score of 10-5 saw him win the Fighting Spirit Award. He was also given the honour of serving as Hakuhō's tsuyuharai, or dew sweeper, during the yokozuna's ring entering ceremony.[5]

Kaisei with Hakuhō and stablemate Kyokutenhō at the Sumiyoshi taisha in March 2012.

He was promoted to maegashira 5 for the July tournament, where he recovered from 1-4 to go to 6-4, but then lost his last five matches to finish on 6-9. With the intai-zumo (retirement from sumo) of ōzeki Kaiō during the same tournament Kaisei become the heyagashira (the highest ranked wrestler) at Tomozuna stable. Disappointing scores of 4-11 and 6-9 in September and November 2011 saw him fall to the bottom of the division. A 5-10 record in the January 2012 tournament meant he suffered demotion to jūryō in March, but he produced a 10–5 record in Osaka, ensuring a return to makuuchi. In July 2012 he scored eleven wins, picking up his second Fighting Spirit Award and earning promotion to maegashira 1. In September he just fell short with a 7–8 record, losing to Hōmashō on the final day. Since then he has largely alternated winning and losing tournaments. Though he has proven his longevity in the top division, it remains to be seen whether he can achieve more consistent performances. He has not added to his two special prizes and has yet to defeat a yokozuna in 16 attempts.

Kaisei made his sanyaku debut in the May 2016 tournament, having been promoted to komusubi on the back of an 11–4 record from the rank of maegashira 7. He is the second wrestler from Tomozuna stable to reach komusubi since the present stablmeaster took over in 1989 and the first since Kaiō in 1994.[6] After coming through with an 8–7 record he earned immediate promotion to sekiwake for the following July tournament.

Fighting style

Kaisei's favoured techniques are listed at the Sumo Association as migi-yotsu (a left hand outside, right hand inside grip on the opponent's mawashi), yori (forcing) and oshi (pushing). His most common winning kimarite are straightforward: yori-kiri (force out) and oshi dashi (push out).

Career record

Kaisei Ichirō[7]
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
2006 x x x x (Maezumo) West Jonokuchi #35
6–1
 
2007 West Jonidan #66
6–1
 		 West Sandanme #96
4–3
 		 West Sandanme #75
6–1
 		 West Sandanme #18
2–5
 		 West Sandanme #42
3–4
 		 West Sandanme #56
3–4
 
2008 East Sandanme #69
6–1
 		 West Sandanme #14
5–2
 		 West Makushita #52
5–2
 		 West Makushita #35
4–3
 		 West Makushita #29
2–5
 		 East Makushita #50
3–4
 
2009 West Makushita #60
3–4
 		 East Sandanme #15
5–2
 		 West Makushita #52
5–2
 		 East Makushita #31
2–5
 		 West Makushita #46
7–0–P
Champion
 		 West Makushita #6
3–4
 
2010 East Makushita #10
5–2
 		 West Makushita #5
5–2
 		 West Makushita #2
5–2
 		 East Jūryō #12
8–7
 		 East Jūryō #4
7–8
 		 East Jūryō #6
11–4–PP
Champion
 
2011 East Jūryō #1
8–7
 		 West Maegashira #16
Tournament Cancelled
0–0–0		 West Maegashira #16
10–5
F		 East Maegashira #5
6–9
 		 East Maegashira #8
4–11
 		 East Maegashira #14
6–9
 
2012 East Maegashira #16
5–10
 		 West Jūryō #4
10–5
 		 East Maegashira #12
9–6
 		 West Maegashira #8
11–4
F		 West Maegashira #1
7–8
 		 West Maegashira #2
7–8
 
2013 West Maegashira #3
6–9
 		 West Maegashira #5
3–12
 		 East Maegashira #14
8–7
 		 East Maegashira #12
11–4
 		 West Maegashira #4
7–8
 		 West Maegashira #5
7–8
 
2014 West Maegashira #6
8–7
 		 East Maegashira #3
6–9
 		 East Maegashira #6
8–7
 		 East Maegashira #3
5–10
 		 West Maegashira #6
8–7
 		 East Maegashira #4
7–8
 
2015 East Maegashira #5
7–8
 		 West Maegashira #6
5–10
 		 East Maegashira #11
10–5
 		 West Maegashira #3
6–9
 		 West Maegashira #5
6–9
 		 East Maegashira #7
9–6
 
2016 West Maegashira #3
5–10
 		 West Maegashira #7
11–4
 		 East Komusubi #1
8–7
 		 East Sekiwake #1
7–8
 		 East Komusubi #1
6–9
 		 East Maegashira #2
3–12
 
Record given as win-loss-absent    Top Division Champion Retired Lower Divisions

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

Makuuchi ranks: Yokozuna — Ōzeki — Sekiwake — Komusubi — Maegashira
Record given as win-loss-absent    Top Division Champion Retired Lower Divisions

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

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

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Eles não arredam pé". veja.com.br. 2009-04-22. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  2. ↑ "Sumo > Who's Who > Kaisei". sumo.goo.ne.jp. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  3. ↑ "Ricardo Sugano alcança categoria top de sumô". ebc.com.br. 2001-06-14. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  4. ↑ 【Nagoya tournament】Kaisei, Brazil native, not very interested in the world cup, July 6th 2014 Sports Houchi news
  5. 1 2 "Sumo: Brazilian-born Kaisei making mint performance". Breibart. 14 May 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  6. ↑ "2016 May Grand Sumo Tournament Banzuke Topics". Japan Sumo Association. May 2016. Archived from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  7. ↑ "Kaisei Ichiro Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 2011-07-18.


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