ID :
210086
Wed, 09/28/2011 - 19:39
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/210086
The shortlink copeid
Sumo: Promoted Kotoshogiku wants to be loved like Kaio
TOKYO, Sept. 28 Kyodo - Kotoshogiku hopes to become as popular as the wrestler whose void he will be filling after being formally promoted Wednesday to sumo's second-highest rank of ozeki.
The 27-year-old Kotoshogiku, whose promotion was approved during a conference to decide the rankings for the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament in November and at an executive board meeting held by the Japan Sumo Association, will become the first Japanese wrestler to assume the ozeki rank in four years.
Former ozeki Kotomitsuki was the last Japanese wrestler to gain promotion to the rank after the 2007 Nagoya basho. Kotoshogiku will plug the hole left by Kaio, who was the last remaining Japanese ozeki before retiring at the Nagoya meet in July.
''I want to deliver results on the dohyo (raised ring) and be an ozeki that is loved by everyone like Kaio was,'' said Kotoshogiku of Kaio, who retired just days after he had moved to the top of the all-time wins list.
Kotoshogiku won 12 bouts at the recently concluded autumn basho, meeting the JSA's loosely defined guidelines of posting a total of 33 wins over three consecutive tournaments.
''I didn't think he would achieve this so quickly,'' said Kotoshogiku's stablemaster Sadogatake. ''It's a result of the effort he has put in.''
Kotoshogiku shares the same stable as Kotooshu and the Bulgarian grappler was pleased to be having him as an ozeki teammate.
''We have been training together for a long time and I am pleased he has got promotion,'' said Kotooshu.
''I want to tell him how tough it is going to get from now. The difference is the sense of responsibility. He will have to support the Japan Sumo Association on every level.''
JSA chief Hanaregoma said he hoped Kotoshogiku would try and make the next step up to yokozuna.
''I want him to aim for yokozuna next. There will be high expectations on his home ground (at the Kyushu basho) and the JSA hopes he can generate excitement.''
The promotion provides a welcome lift for a sport that has had its reputation repeatedly tarnished by a slew of scandals, the most recent a match-fixing racket that broke earlier this year and plunged sumo into its worst ever crisis.
Kotomitsuki was banned for life from the national sport for betting on pro baseball in an illegal gambling racket last summer.
The 27-year-old Kotoshogiku, whose promotion was approved during a conference to decide the rankings for the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament in November and at an executive board meeting held by the Japan Sumo Association, will become the first Japanese wrestler to assume the ozeki rank in four years.
Former ozeki Kotomitsuki was the last Japanese wrestler to gain promotion to the rank after the 2007 Nagoya basho. Kotoshogiku will plug the hole left by Kaio, who was the last remaining Japanese ozeki before retiring at the Nagoya meet in July.
''I want to deliver results on the dohyo (raised ring) and be an ozeki that is loved by everyone like Kaio was,'' said Kotoshogiku of Kaio, who retired just days after he had moved to the top of the all-time wins list.
Kotoshogiku won 12 bouts at the recently concluded autumn basho, meeting the JSA's loosely defined guidelines of posting a total of 33 wins over three consecutive tournaments.
''I didn't think he would achieve this so quickly,'' said Kotoshogiku's stablemaster Sadogatake. ''It's a result of the effort he has put in.''
Kotoshogiku shares the same stable as Kotooshu and the Bulgarian grappler was pleased to be having him as an ozeki teammate.
''We have been training together for a long time and I am pleased he has got promotion,'' said Kotooshu.
''I want to tell him how tough it is going to get from now. The difference is the sense of responsibility. He will have to support the Japan Sumo Association on every level.''
JSA chief Hanaregoma said he hoped Kotoshogiku would try and make the next step up to yokozuna.
''I want him to aim for yokozuna next. There will be high expectations on his home ground (at the Kyushu basho) and the JSA hopes he can generate excitement.''
The promotion provides a welcome lift for a sport that has had its reputation repeatedly tarnished by a slew of scandals, the most recent a match-fixing racket that broke earlier this year and plunged sumo into its worst ever crisis.
Kotomitsuki was banned for life from the national sport for betting on pro baseball in an illegal gambling racket last summer.
