Adopted Rikishi

[Itachi 396]

Well, I don't mention my adopted rikishi very often even when they do well so I am trying to remedy that here.

I have a very indirect connection to Makushita bound Nishikikaze who somehow managed to be ranked at Makushita 20 for this tournament and has won both his matches so far including tonight vs. Dewanofuji (Surely this isn't going to be a spoiler for anyone?).

I have no connection to Sandanme bound Sasaki (I mean bound as in restrained to not as in headed for) except that we both lived in Aomori and he belongs to Wakanosato's heya which has been one of my favorites for a long time. Sasaki is ranked at sd 75 this time (I thought he was headed back to Jonidan before last tournament) and he has also won both his matches.

I began this post mainly to crow about the solid starts by the two rikishi I have been following for so long (relative to their career length). I still don't expect either to ever manage promotion to the next division but Nishikikaze might just do it one day by accident and Sasaki is still young.

I'm sure many of you have sentimental favorites from the lower ranks who you have been following without sharing. Rikishi who perhaps haven't been all that impressive over the last few years but who nevertheless you have become attached to for whatever reason. I would like to hear about them on this thread.

Please tell us WHO you have been rooting for;

WHY you 'adopted' them;

WHEN (if you recall) it all began;

and HOW they have been doing.

I look forward to hearing about the unsung heroes of the sub-sekitori ranks.

Sincerely,

Itachi

[aderechelsea 125]

i root for Daiyuchi who is at Sandanme 15e and as a record of 1 win and 1 loss thus far ....

i liked him because he is really slim and i have a soft spot for rikishi that don't depend on their body weight to win. (that's why my favourite rikishi are Kaiho and Asashoryu).

i all begun last year when i saw a photo of him, taken by a forum member (i don't remember the name ... sorry).

since the day i said that i will support him he is doing really crap ... 1 KK and 4 MK ...

BUT I AM SURE HE IS GOING BACK TO MAKUSHITA SOON !!!!!!!

edit : the member's name that i didn't remember is higashimori .... :-P

Edited January 11, 2005 by aderechelsea

[Manekineko 200]

I adopted "mk kid" Kotokaneko on his hatsu-dohyo, because he was a Koto and ended in neko. He managed all of two kk in his career so far (over two years, I think) and is currently in jonidan - improving slowly but slowly. :-P

[Yubiquitoyama 4]

I adopted a rikishi when the adopt-a-rikishi started on the mailing list, namely Takamaru. What can go wrong with such a shikona? Well, having stayed relatively healthy through the years, he's simply not going anywherte. He has held a position at the extreme low Makushita down to mid-Sandanme now for ages, and although I still wait for his "big break", I'm very aware of him not being a Sadogatake-rikishi, and therefore will not become Juryo unless he starts moving fast...

Anyway, at his standard ranking of Sandanme29w he lost his first match, but of course it will be reversed by the end of the basho :-P

[Mattjila 0]

I adopted my rikishi, Ryuutei, the Dragon King of China, when I first heard about him on the mailing list. That was almost a year ago, I think. I just heard about a big "meatbomb" of a kid and figured I should follow him. I guess I have a fondness for either tiny rikishi (e.g., Kagaya) or big ones (e.g., Orora).

Sadly, Ryuutei seems to have hit a Sandanme wall as he is now 0-2 at Sd86w.

[Elenrian 0]

I "adopted" Minaminoshima some months ago, because I wanted to have an answer when I wrote a letter!!! He is in Sandamne, but his results are very low!!!

Then I chosed Wakakirin, because he seems to have more talent and he is not very well-known!!!

[Gusoyama 105]

I started watching Takanoyama's results because he's a skinny guy, looks kind of like me, and is one of the lesser known Europeans. He's been hovering at around sd15 for some time now, and really needs to put some bulk on to move up any. But I'm still rooting for him!

[Exil 301]

It seems I've sort-of-adopted Inui, the young Musashigawan with a peculiar shikona (fighting under his family name). His hatsu-dohyo was in Haru last year, and I came to know of his existence around the same time. Inui's record is as follows:

Natsu  '04: 4-3 (Jk24e)
Nagoya '04: 2-5 (Jd124w)
Aki    '04: 3-4 (Jk13w)
Kyushu '04: 2-5 (Jk15w)
Hatsu  '05: 1-0 (Jk23w)
------------------------
Overall   : 12-17-0

Not a very impressive record, but it's a start.

[madorosumaru 7]

Living in California, I don't have many opportunities to watch lower level rikishi. Two years ago, a friend in Japan sent a tape of a NHK telecast of Hatsubasho Nakabi when all the shin-deshi are introduced.

Among the 13 that went through mae-zumo was a kid that stuck out. Shironishiki wasn't that big but he wasn't pudgy like a lot of his fellow rookies. He just looked like a solidly-built, tough-looking young guy. In fact, he was second in his mae-zumo class after Ono, now known as Masatsukasa, who is on the Prospects-to-Watch List of this Forum. Uchida, now Futeno, also joined that basho but he was a makushita tsukedashi so he is in another category.

Shironishiki did very well his first year; he kept pace with Ono who always seemed to be a step ahead of him. Then, he had a big basho with 6 wins and got promoted, for the first time, ahead of Ono (by then Masatsukasa) to mid-makushita. He was a legitimate comer. The media took note of him and Asasekiryu, a senpai from Mongolia, presented him with either an obi or a tabi--a traditional welcome gift from a sekitori to outstanding prospects.

So far so good, but sumo is not so easy. Shironishiki hit a wall, as many prospects are wont to do when they start facing some of the makushita regulars and former sekitori. Two MK in a row and he was back in sandanme.

This basho, after two trying basho of 4 wins each, he is back in makushita--albeit barely at East 54. It may sound like a happy resumption of his journey upward, but, again, it is never that simple. Just before Shonichi, it was reported that Shironishiki will be kyujo to start the basho. Oh, no! Not kanraku again.

Fortunately, there may be a happy ending. The news is that he is returning today after missing only one bout. Let's hope whatever ailed him has healed and we'll all see him in juryo by year end.

Out of curiosity, I kept loose track of the 13 + Uchida that started that January. In two years, only a handful is left. Uchida/Futeno is, of course, a sekitori. Masatsukasa is at makushita 18, almost sure to be in juryo soon. Otherwise, I can only find two others--one in jonidan and one, alas, still in low jonokuchi.

[Kintamayama 47,345]

It seems I've sort-of-adopted Inui, the young Musashigawan with a peculiar shikona (fighting under his family name).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Inui in Hebrew means torture.

[Golynohana 332]

My adopted rikishi is Kinryuzan from South Korea. He is very young and I hope he can go to makuuchi one day. First time I heard about him was in sumo mailing list when somebody (don't remember who) put a link to a movie (about 30 minutes) in german about young rikishi from South Korea, his life in a heya and his first 2 bouts. His name was Kimu then and he was 15 at that time and i thought i would follow his career. He is currently Sandanme 69 and is 1-1 so far (the win by fusen).

[Asashosakari 20,287]

Out of curiosity, I kept loose track of the 13 + Uchida that started that January.

Edited January 11, 2005 by Asashosakari

[madorosumaru 7]

If you're curious, out of those 14, 9 are still active. Besides Futeno, Masatsukasa and Shironishiki, there's Katsunofuji in Sandanme, Genkaimaru, Sadanofuji, Taganofuji and Taiseiryu in Jonidan, and Fukunokuni in Jonokuchi.

Thanks, Asashosakari, for the information. Three of the four I couldn't find were from the old Nakadachi Beya. Once they change shikona and heya, they really become MIA. Taiseiryu went by his own name of Hatanaka until a few basho ago. He is also at a different heya than the one he started with.

How do you manage to keep track of the lower level rikishi through all the changes?

[Asashosakari 20,287]

Thanks, Asashosakari, for the information.  Three of the four I couldn't find were from the old Nakadachi Beya.  Once they change shikona and heya, they really become MIA.  Taiseiryu went by his own name of Hatanaka until a few basho ago. He is also at a different heya than the one he started with.

How do you manage to keep track of the lower level rikishi through all the changes?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Easy, I let others do it for me. :-P Finding active rikishi by their debut date is probably easiest here...just search the alphabetical listings. Bandey really does a bang-up job with that site. (Sign of approval)

If you're looking for data on everyone who debuted in a certain basho (not just still-active rikishi), the Kyokai database is probably the best public database to go to, it's a bit more cumbersome though...first rikishi of the class of Hatsu 2003 for instance is here, and for the other 13 guys, just increase the number in the URL.

Nakadachi-beya was simply renamed Sakaigawa-beya a little while ago, btw.

(You are going off-topic...) (Oops! )

[Sasanishiki 57]

I follow two rikishi, though have not really adopted them as such, and I am about to add a third.

I have followed upper Sandanme Takanoyama for a little over a year just because I knew he was small and because he was the first rikishi from the Czech Republic. I've since met him briefly and have made contact with ShiroiKuma and the other members of the Czech amateur team.

I have been following lower Sandanme Mizuguchi for the last couple of basho since his debut. This is again through having met him once and having some contacts with his alma mater, the Ritsumeikan University Sumo-bu.

I will now also follow the career of Hidenofuji, who has just entered maezumo. He is also from Ritsumeikan and I have met him a few times as an amateur, when he was known as Nakamura. He strikes me as a nice guy, a bit quiet but always smiling and having a laugh with his teammates.

[Senpai 0]

My favoryte is surely Baruto as I am his fellow contryman from little Estonia. Started to watch his carreer in sumo already when he was fighting in Europe. Becoming a professional in Japan was a kind a miracle and great news for me. I hope he has a power to become even better he is right now.

Good reslts at the moment 7-0, 7-0, 5-2 and hope he gets a kashikoshi from this basho too.

(Sign of approval)

Edited January 12, 2005 by Senpai

[aderechelsea 125]

i know it is embarassing ... but does anyone know the real name of my adopted rikishi Daiyuchi (Sandanme 15e - Shibatayama beya).

the Kyokai's site doesn't have it and i cannot read Japanese in order to find it in the Heya's site ....

[Exil 301]

i know it is embarassing ... but does anyone know the real name of my adopted rikishi Daiyuchi (Sandanme 15e - Shibatayama beya).

the Kyokai's site doesn't have it and i cannot read Japanese in order to find it in the Heya's site ....

Bandey's rather excellent site lists him as Davaadorji Undrah.

[aderechelsea 125]

Exil you come once more and save the day ....

cheers.

[asa_love 0]

hi, i've never heard of "adopting" a rishiki before.. what does that mean?

hey, i wanna adopt the next asashoryu

[Kintamayama 47,345]

hi, i've never heard of "adopting" a rishiki before.. what does that mean?

hey, i wanna adopt the next asashoryu

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You can still adopt the excellent and promising Jonokuchi rikishi Adachinoryu, or his stablemate NISHINOSHIMA.

[asa_love 0]

erm...

what does adopting mean anyway>> > ?

[Manekineko 200]

@Kintamayama:

In combination with the other thread, this is becoming mightly interesting. (Clapping wildly...) (Showing respect...)

[Mark Buckton 1]

hi, i've never heard of "adopting" a rishiki before.. what does that mean?

hey, i wanna adopt the next asashoryu

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You can still adopt the excellent and promising Jonokuchi rikishi Adachinoryu, or his stablemate NISHINOSHIMA.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

but be warned - we come not cheapeth (Sign of approval) And I've adopted a sprog of my own recently - theoretically speaking

Back to business though - 100,000 yen a month will get you an autograph (just 1 mind), a touch of the mawashi if you're up to it and the opportunity to have a pic taken beside my legendary torso - bruises and all!

Apply via PM (Clapping wildly...)

[asa_love 0]

o... . reall y . . . . . . . . . . .

hm i want 2 adopt a mongolian one tho. any recomendations