A Question

[Daigaiguma]

I was wondering if a yokozuna's tsukebito has ever become a yokozuna himself?

(I tried to search for this, but in vain)

Also, what has become of Shimoda? I haven't heard anything about him recently.

Thanks, oh wonderful, patient experts.

[aderechelsea]

i cannot answer the first question but i am sure someone like Jonosuke will have a 2-page answer on that ... ;-)

as for Shimoda ....

Ilovesumo has posted this pic of him in her "Day 1 pictures" topic.

this basho he started with a loss to Fukuoka and he is troubling me. I am starting to doubt his potential to become a sekitori someday.

Did he get his degree from the university? if so i don't expect him to stay for long in sumo if the results don't get better. If i remember correctly he was hesitant to enter sumo in the first place, so an intai for lack of success in a short time wouldn't surprise me.

[Jonosuke]

I was wondering if a yokozuna's tsukebito has ever become a yokozuna himself?

First I recommend you try to find a better thread title as it sounds so general that people may miss it entirely.

But the question is an intersting one. I don't know the answer but I think it's worth finding the answer.

My gut answer is none. For one thing, a tsukebito of yokozuna usually belongs to the same heya as the yokozuna (or his Ichimon). Normally a heya with a yokozuna has many recruits so we don't have too many yokozuna who could had a chance to be a yokozuna's tsukebito.

A heya like Kokonoe is a good candidate as they had more than a few yokozunas so it may be possible that Chiyonofuji or Hokutoumi may have worked for Kitanofuji who himself could have been a tsukebito of Chiyonoyama.

But most yokozuna had natural ability so they have likely progressed very quickly through lower ranks so they never had enough time to be someone's tsukebito for too long.

[Gacktoh]

I was wondering if a yokozuna's tsukebito has ever become a yokozuna himself?

Kitanofuji was one of Tukebito of Yokozuna Chiyonoyama.

[Jakusotsu]

I might be wrong, but wasn't Hokutoumi tsukebito of Chiyonofuji?

[Sasanishiki]

as for Shimoda ....

this basho he started with a loss to Fukuoka and he is troubling me. I am starting to doubt his potential to become a sekitori someday.

Did he get his degree from the university? if so i don't expect him to stay for long in sumo if the results don't get better. If i remember correctly he was hesitant to enter sumo in the first place, so an intai for lack of success in a short time wouldn't surprise me.

I have myself doubted Shimoda's ability in ozumo, even before he began. Yes, he came in witha flurish, but I believe he is too small to ulitmately succeed in ozumo. He did very well in amateur, but a lot of the bigger athletes in Japan do well purely because they are large. they tend to be slow and not particularly fit, and sometimes their size gets in the way of technique. Shimoda was a bit smaller, quicker and had good technique so he could compete with them. However, once he gets to ozumo he will face large opponents who are more skilled than he would have in a few years of amasumo. He is facing strong up-and-comers, wily veterans, battle-hardened makushita perennials, and this will wear him down eventually, I believe.

[aderechelsea]

I was wondering if a yokozuna's tsukebito has ever become a yokozuna himself?

Ryuo was tsukebito to Yokozuna Hakuho and he looks promising .... ;-)

:-P (Sigh...)