Asasekiryu Taro

Asasekiryu Taro - 朝赤龍太郎 (born August 7, 1981) is a former Mongolian professional sumo wrestler from Ulaanbaatar. He made his debut in January 2000 and wrestled for Takasago stable. He reached the makuuchi division in March 2003 and has 4 special prizes. His highest rank is sekiwake and he retired in May 2017.

Early Life[]

YoungHighschoolers — Asasekiryu and Asashoryu attending high school in Japan (c. 1997)

Dashnyam was the second son of a successful Mongolian wrestler who achieved a level roughly equivalent to sumo's komusubi. From the ages of six to twelve he attended the Naadam festival, where he was also schooled in horse training.

He did not continue his training, however, and in 1997 chose to accompany his friend, future yokozuna Asashoryu who was moving to Japan to attend high school. It was understood it was largely to keep his friend from becoming homesick. They were accepted by Meitoku Gijuku high school, known for its strong sumo program. They were seniors to later stars Kotoshogiku and Tochiozan. After high school, Dashnyam wasn't sure whether to attend university or enter professional sumo. After Asashoryu confirmed that he was turning pro, Dashnyam followed him into Wakamatsu stable (now Takasago stable).

Career[]

Early Career[]

Asasekiryu made his debut in January 2000 and breezed through the bottom three divisions. In his debut he produced a 6-1 record and the following tournament he took the jonidan championship with a perfect 7-0 record. It took him only two tournaments in sandanme to earn promotion to the makushita division. Asasekiryu found makushita much harder to break through, however by 2001 he was already fighting in the upper levels of makushita. In May 2002, at the rank of makushita 1, he produced a 5-2 and defeated two juryo ranked wrestlers: Wakatoba and Kotonomine. This earned him a promotion to the juryo division.

Juryo Career[]

P1080521-225x300 — Asasekiryu prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2002)

Asasekiryu made his juryo debut in July 2002, but he struggled in his first tournament. He produced a 6-9 losing record and was demoted to the bottom of juryo. He would bounce back and produce two consecutive 10-5 double-digit winning records and in the following tournament took the juryo championship with an 11-4 record after defeating Buyuzan in the playoffs. This would earn him a promotion to makuuchi.

Makuuchi Career[]

Asasekiryu remained mostly in the mid to lower maegashira ranks in his first couple tournaments in makuuchi. In March 2004, Asasekiryu won his first twelve matches and defeated ozeki Kaio on the 12th day. He finished with a 13-2 record and was runner up to Asashoryu's (who he would serve as sword bearer for most of his career) 15-0 yusho. He also won his first sansho of outstanding performance prize and the technique prize. However, after that he would remain a maegashira and produce mediocre records for around two years.

In the May 2006 tournament, Asasekiryu achieved a 10-5 record at the rank of maegashira 2. He defeated 4 ozeki including Kaio, Tochiazuma, Chiyotaikai and Kotooshu. He earned a fighting spirit prize and was promoted to komusubi for the next tournament. In his komusubi debut, Asasekiryu had to withdraw on the third day due to some injuries and produced some mixed results after that.

Screen Shot 2020-08-29 at 10.44.18 PM — Asasekiryu with his sansho after the May 2007 tournament.

In May 2007, fighting from the mid maegashira ranks, he produced an outstanding 12-3 record. This gave him runner-up honours once again, and his second Technique prize. In July 2007 Asasekiryu had his first chance to fight a yokozuna and earn a gold star when he met new yokozuna Hakuho, as sumo rules prevented him from being matched against his stablemate Asashoryu. He lost, but the eight wins he managed in this tournament at maegashira 1 were enough to earn him promotion to sekiwake for September, which was to be his highest career rank. He had a winning record in that tournament, but after a disappointing 3-12 score in November 2007, he was demoted back to the maegashira ranks for the January 2008 tournament.

Asasekiryu produced two good performances in the first two tournaments of 2008. In January he scored ten wins and in March he defeated two ozeki, and tournament runner-up Baruto to finish 8-7. This performance returned him to the titled san'yaku ranks for the May 2008 tournament, at komusubi. However he was unable to maintain his ranking, only scoring six wins against nine losses. He was again ranked at komusubi in September 2008, but turned in a poor 4-11 record. He became his stable's top rikishi in February 2010, following the retirement of Asashoryu. Asasekiryu expressed his shock and sadness at the sudden retirement of a friend he had known since the age of 11. He continued to move up and down the division, reaching maegashira 1 in July 2010 but falling back to maegashira 9 by May 2011. In the May 2012 tournament, ranked at maegashira 14, he stood at only 3–7 after ten days, and although he rallied somewhat to finish on 6–9, this was not enough to prevent demotion back to juryo for the first time.

Later Career[]

He spent one tournament in juryo, and returned to makuuchi in September after just one tournament away, but then was injured on just the second day of the November 2012 tournament and had to withdraw, resulting in another demotion to juryo. He became somewhat of a second division regular, doing enough to maintain sekitori status while never achieving enough success for repromotion. A 10-5 record in July 2015 however, saw his promotion to makuuchi after a near three-year hiatus. He maintained his position in the top division despite a 7-8 record in September 2015 but was relegated after recording only 3 wins in November. His run of 86 consecutive tournaments ranked as a sekitori ended in November 2016 when he could score only 4-11 at juryo 9. This result left the Takasago stable without any wrestlers in the top two divisions for the first time since it was founded in 1878, a situation for which Asasekiryu expressed his regret.

Retirement from Sumo[]

Sum18020505000002-p1 — Asasekiryu during his danpatsu-shiki (c. 2018)

He acquired Japanese citizenship in April 2017. This allowed him to stay in the sumo world after retirement as an elder of the Japan Sumo Association. He announced he was retiring on May 12, 2017. He became Nishikijima Oyakata, an elder name which had been thought to be owned by the active wrestler Toyonoshima, but Asasekiryu is listed in an owner's position rather than a borrower's at the Sumo Association. In his retirement press conference he said his most memorable honbasho was his 13–2 runner-up performance in March 2004, the same tournament in which his stablemate Asashoryu won with a perfect 15–0 record. His danpatsu-shiki (retirement ceremony) was held at the Ryogoku Kokugikan on February 4, 2018 with around 250 guests taking part in the hair-cutting ritual. His four-year-old son was scheduled to appear with him but began crying and was excused.

In November 2020 he took over as head coach of Takasago stable and the Takasago ichimon. He is the first foreign born coach to head an ichimon.

Asasekiryu was handed a 20% salary cut for three months in June 2021 after ozeki Asanoyama was issued a one-year suspension from sumo for violating COVID-19 protocols.

Personal Life[]

Asasekiryu has known his wife, a Mongolian national, since 2006 when he visited Mongolia after reaching a sanyaku rank. They began a relationship in 2012 and had a child together in 2013, but they delayed their wedding reception as Asasekiryu wanted to wait until he was promoted back to the top makuuchi division, which did not happen until September 2015. Although he soon fell to juryo again, the reception went ahead on February 14, 2016. They have a son and a daughter.
Unlike Asashoryu, Asasekiryu has a mild personality.
Asasekiryu graduated from the National University of Mongolia in June 2010 after studying by correspondence for six years. His thesis was in the history and culture of sumo in Japan.
Asasekiryu's hobbies include watching movies.

Fighting Style[]

Asasekiryu was a yotsu-sumo (grappling) wrestler, preferring a migi-yotsu (left hand outside, right hand inside) grip on his opponent's mawashi or belt. His most common winning technique was a straightforward yorikiri or force out. He was also fond of throws, most often employing uwatenage (outer arm throw) and uwatedashinage (pulling outer arm throw).