Arawashi Tsuyoshi

Arawashi Tsuyoshi - 荒鷲毅 (born August 21, 1986) is a former Mongolian professional sumo wrestler from Khovd Province. He made his debut in November 2002 and last wrestled for Minezaki stable. He reached the makuuchi division in May 2014 and has three kinboshi. His highest rank was maegashira 2 and he retired in January 2020.

Early Life[]

Erkhbayar was born in Khovd Province on August 21, 1986. He lived in Indonesia for a time in his younger years. His father was a former amateur wrestler and placed fourth in the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics. In his childhood he was active in sports such as soccer, basketball and swimming. At the 2002 junior sumo tournament, he impressed then active Kyokushuzan with his ability and soon afterward he entered Araiso stable. He debuted in November 2002 in maezumo at the height of 183 centimeters (6 ft 0 in) and weighing 83 kilograms (183 lb).

Career[]

Early Career[]

Arawashi steadily rose through the lower divisions. He breezed through the jonokuchi, jonidan and sandanme divisions. He made his makushita division debut in July 2004, less than two years since his professional debut, and at the time only produced one losing record.

Arawashi2009 — Arawashi during his time in makushita (c. 2009)

Arawashi suffered his first setback as he couldn't establish himself as a makushita regular. He got demoted and re-promoted on 4 separate occasions. Arawashi started to establish himself as a makushita regular until in January 2006, he dislocated his left shoulder and had to sit out. After a couple more pull-outs due to his dislocated shoulder, he finally decided to have corrective surgery on it after his seventh dislocation. This caused him to fall from makushita 22 all the way down to jonidan 22.

Upon his return in January 2008, his sumo was back in form and he recorded three 6–1 consecutive tournaments. However, in September of that year, Araiso stable closed upon the retirement of its owner, the former Futagodake. While the other wrestlers in the stable chose to retire, he chose to remain active and transferred to Hanakago stable. He would establish himself as a makushita level regular for around 3 years until the 2011 match-fixing scandal.

Juryo Career[]

Arawashi-2012 — Arawashi prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2012)

In the May 2011 technical tournament which was not televised due to the ramifications of widespread match-fixing he managed only a 3–4 record at makushita 3. This normally would have led to a drop in rank. However, he was one of a number of wrestlers who benefited from the dismissal of several high-ranking wrestlers for match-fixing and he was actually promoted to the salaried juryo division for the first time in his career in the July 2011 tournament. He only managed a 5–10 record at juryo 13 and was demoted back to makushita 3. He repeated this same feat twice more, taking a number of tournaments to rise to juryo and being relegated after a single losing tournament back to the unsalaried makushita division.

During this period, in 2012, Hanakago stable had to close due to financial difficulties. He then transferred to his third stable, Minezaki. Starting in the September 2013 tournament he begin to be more consistent, and posted two strong 6–1 consecutive tournaments to achieve promotion to juryo for the fourth time in the January 2014 tournament. He debuted at a then career high rank of juryo 10 and managed an 8–7 record. A 10–5 record in the following March tournament garnered him his first promotion to the makuuchi top division for the May 2014 tournament.

Makuuchi Career[]

Arawashi was the 21st Mongolian to make it to the top division following Terunofuji. At the beginning of his career, Arawashi had entered sumo at the same time as Kotooshu but was soon left behind as Kotooshu made one of the fastest-ever rises to makuuchi and ultimately ozeki. Arawashi had stated that one of his goals was to make it to makuuchi and once again face Kotooshu in the ring. However, he would never realize this goal, as Kotooshu retired, his name being taken off the banzuke the same tournament that Arawashi's was added to makuuchi. Arawashi alternated between winning and losing tournaments before a calamitous 2–13 record in May 2015 saw him demoted back to the juryo division.

20170114s00005000047000p view — Arawashi defeats yokozuna Kakuryu for his first career kinboshi (c. 2017)

He returned to the top division in July 2016 and came through with a winning record. In November 2016 he produced a career-best performance as a final day win over Shodai saw him end with an 11–4 record and a promotion to maegashira 2 for the January tournament. In this tournament he started with five straight losses but then defeated yokozuna Kakuryu on Day 6 to earn his first kinboshi. It took him 85 tournaments from his professional debut to get a kinboshi, the seventh-slowest of all time. He then defeated Hakuho on Day 8, meaning his only two wins of the tournament at that point had come against yokozuna. He finished with a 6–9 record. In the March 2017 tournament he had his third career win over a yokozuna, defeating Harumafuji. However, he had to withdraw from the tournament on Day 13 after injuring his ankle. He returned to the maegashira 2 ranking in March 2018, but scored only 2–13. After a run of poor results he was demoted to the juryo division after the July 2018 tournament. He returned to the top division in November 2018 but after winning only one match he withdrew on Day 13 with a left knee injury, sending him back to juryo.

Later Career[]

Arawashi's sumo performance continued to take a toll due to his injured knees. Arawashi stayed in juryo for four tournaments, before producing a 5-10 record at the low rank of juryo 10. He was demoted to the makushita division after the July 2019 tournament, and withdrew on Day 13 in September. He remained in Tokyo for treatment on his knee, missing the Kyushu tournament in November. He fell to makushita 48 in January 2020 and sat out that tournament too, announcing his retirement on Day 13.

Retirement from Sumo[]

At his press conference he said he had continuing pain in his knee, and that his fondest career memory was his Day 14 win over Tamaasuka in January 2014, which clinched his first kachi-koshi as a sekitori. His danpatsu-shiki or official retirement ceremony was scheduled be held on May 31, 2020 but was postponed until Feb 23, 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Arawashi does not hold elder stock in the Sumo Association but is working as a coach in an unofficial capacity at Minezaki stable while deciding on his future plans. The Minezaki stable closed after the March 2021 tournament but he intends to remain in Japan.

According to the July 2023 issue of the magazine Sumo, Arawashi operates a real estate business based in Japan, the United States, and Mongolia. His weight has also dropped to under 100 kg (220 lb).

Personal Life[]

Arawashi was married in January 2017 to a 27-year-old flight attendant who he had first met in Mongolia two years previously. After pulling out of the March 2017 tournament through injury, he was allowed to make the marriage public only after successfully completing the May tournament. His wife attended Mongolian National University.
Arawashi was born in Khovd Province, however, he initially used Ulaanbaatar as his shusshin, or birthplace, when joining sumo. Midway into his career, he switched his shusshin to his official birthplace of Khovd Province.
Arawashi's favorite food is sushi and eel.
Arawashi and Hakuho are childhood friends.

Fighting Style[]

According to his Japan Sumo Association profile, Arawashi's favourite grips and techniques are migi-yotsu (a left hand outside, right hand inside hold on the opponent's mawashi), yori kiri (force out) and uwatenage (overarm throw). He was the lightest man in the top division until the promotion of Ishiura in November 2016. Arawashi is known as a master technician and has employed over 40 different kimarite over his career.