Behind the Curtain - July 2023

It is time to journey to Nagoya for the July Basho.  We have five rikishi stepping out from behind the curtain this tourney.

 

Ms1e Shiden (4-3) got a kachikoshi from the first slot of Makushita to guarantee his wearing of the silk mawashi this basho.  This is his second time getting promoted to the paid ranks.  However, the last time, he didn’t get to do one bout at Juryo because he reprimanded from the Kyokai for going gambling and did not even gamble, but got suspended by his Oyakata, causing him to drop back to Makushita, again, without having a single bout.

 

Shiden was born in Machida, Tokyo.  His grandfather loved sumo and influenced him to join a local sumo dojo at a very young age. He attended Oyamada-minami Elementary School where he won a local child sumo tournament in the fourth grade. He went on to attend Machida Shiritsu Oyamada Junior High School where he wrestled in multiple national competitions. After graduating junior high school, he studied abroad at Saitama Sakae High School and was a member of the school's prestigous sumo club. During his third year, he won the national group sumo championship with his school and also notched a strong record in the individual competitions. Upon graduating from high school, he enrolled at Nihon University's College of Commerce and was also a member of the university's sumo club. However, he did not win any major titles during his time in collegiate-level sumo. Nevertheless, he opted to turn professional upon graduation from college.

 

Ms1w Kawazoe (5-2) put up 5 wins to get promoted to Juryo.  He was born in Uto, Kumamoto, and he began sumo wrestling during his time at Hanazono Elementary School. In his third year at Uto Kakujo Junior High School, Kawazoe won both the National Junior High School Sumo Championship Lightweight Class and the Hakuho Cup. For high school, Kawazoe attended Buntoku Gakuen Gymnasium where he performed well on the national stage. After graduating, he enrolled at Nihon University's College of Humanities and Sciences where he studied physical education. During his college career, Kawazoe won a total of four titles, including the National Student Sumo Championship which made him eligible for makushita tsukedashi. Upon graduating, Kawazoe joined Miyagino stable.

 

Ms2w Shishi (6-1) had a near perfect record to be able to step in front of the curtain.  Sergey Sokolovsky was born in Ukraine and grew up in Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia Oblast. He began wrestling at the age of 6 and won many amateur tournaments. He transitioned to sumo at the age of fifteen and won the European championship. He was runner-up in the 2018 World Sumo Championships. He joined Irumagawa stable in November 2019 but did not make his debut until March 2020.

 

Ms3w Chiyonoumi (4-3) managed to get moved up the banzuke to the paid ranks with a simple kachikoshi.  He was born in Kuroshia, a small town in Kochi Prefecture. He attended Kochi Prefectural Sukumo High School and belonged to their sumo club. He enrolled in Nippon Sport Science University and joined their sumo club. His most memorable college match was against Endo, a future makuuchi division wrestler, who he beat in a team competition. Endo was a 4th year student (senior), and Hamamachi was only a 2nd year student (sophomore). As a senior, Hamamichi was team captain in the National Student Sumo Championship tournament and led them to a team championship.

 

Ms5e Yuma (5-2) managed to get the open slot in Juryo to get to wear a silk mawashi this basho. He was born the second of three sons in Hirakata, Osaka, Japan. He started sumo wrestling during his fifth year of elementary school and participated at the National Wanpaku Sumo Tournament later that year. 

He attended Hirakata Municipal Nakamiya Junior High School, however, from his second year the school's sumo club was suspended, so he continued his training at Kindai University High School's sumo club. After graduating junior high school, Nakao was introduced to Onomatsu stable by the director of Kindai University High School's sumo club.

 

To make space in the paid ranks for these rikishi the following changes took place.  J5e Tochinoshin retired. His intai and Ichinojo’s create two openings in the second division. Two more slots will be vacated by winless veteran J9w Chiyonokuni (0-10-5), who may be next on the intai watch, and Juryo debutant J14e Tokihayate (6-9).