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Azumaryu Tsuyoshi

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Azumaryu Tsuyoshi - 東龍 強 (born May 12, 1987) is a former Mongolian professional sumo wrestler from Govi-Altai Province. He made his debut in January 2009 and last wrestled for Tamanoi stable. He reached the makuuchi division in May 2013. His highest rank was maegashira 11 and he retired in January 2024.

Early Life[]

Sanduijav Todbileg was born on May 12, 1987, in Govi-Altai Province, located in Western Mongolia. After being scouted at the age of 15 for sumo, Todbileg arrived to Japan in November 2003 and attended Meitoku Gijuku High School, known for its strong sumo club.[1]

After graduating high school, Todbileg enrolled in Kyushu Institute of Information Sciences in Dazaifu, Fukuoka prefecture, but left in his third year when an opening became available at Tamanoi stable after the retirement of the Brazilian Takaazuma (sumo rules restrict foreigners to one per stable). The Japan Sumo Association had recently had issues with foreign wrestlers such as Hakurozan and Roho who had been dismissed from sumo after a cannabis scandal but Todbileg's six years in Japan convinced the stable that he had the necessary experience of Japanese culture to be a success. Although he was accepted by the stable in November 2008, he was not able to make his debut on the dohyo until the following tournament in January 2009, because of Sumo Association rules requiring foreigners to have satisfied all their visa requirements and attend sumo education classes.[1]

Career[]

Early Career[]

Azumaryu2

Azumaryu during his time in makushita (c. 2012)

Todbileg made his professional debut in January 2009 under the shikona "Azumaryu" (東龍). He breezed through the first three divisions and in September 2009, he won all seven matches but missed out on the yusho after losing to Aoki in a playoff. Upon promotion to makushita in November 2009, Azumaryu found the division much harder. He was stuck in the mid-makushita ranks for about a year and a half, before he posting a 5-2 record at the rank of makushita 18 in July 2011 which promoted him to the rank of makushita 5 in September 2011. However, he produced a poor 2-5 record in this tournament and was unable to capitalize on a promotion to juryo. Azumaryu remained in the upper levels of makushita for about another year. In the November 2012 tournament, he produced a 6-1 record at the top of makushita and was promoted to juryo for the January 2013 tournament.[2]

Juryo Career[]

He said upon his promotion that he hoped to emulate his hero Kaio.[3] In his juryo debut, he produced a solid 8-7 kachi-koshi. In March 2013, in just his second tournament in the division he lost a play-off for the yusho or championship to fellow Mongolian Kyokushuho after both finished with 12–3 records, and this performance earned him promotion to the top makuuchi division for the first time.[2]

Makuuchi Career[]

In his first makuuchi tournament in May 2013, Azumaryu produced a 6–9 record which saw him demoted straight back to juryo, but he returned to the top division after a 10–5 record in January 2014 at juryo 3. In his second makuuchi tournament in March 2014 he was ranked at maegashira 14 (his highest rank to date) and stood at five wins and four losses after nine days, but finished with another 6–9 record. The retirement of Kotooshu after that tournament opened up an extra slot in makuuchi, but Sadanoumi, with 8–7 at juryo 4, was given the extra rank of maegashira 17 over Azumaryu who again was demoted. He won promotion back to makuuchi for the July 2014 tournament, but injured his knee on the 14th day and had to withdraw, losing his scheduled 15th day bout by default.[4] This was the first bout he had missed in his career. His 7–8 record was enough to keep him in makuuchi but his injury kept him out of the following tournament in September 2014, resulting in a fall to juryo. Although he returned in November 2014 two more losing records saw him demoted to the unsalaried makushita division for the March 2015 tournament.[2]

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Azumaryu after winning the juryo yusho (c. 2019)

In September 2015 he took part in an eight-way play-off for the makushita championship, and although he was defeated by Chiyoshoma in the semi-final stage his 6–1 record was good enough for a return to juryo. He has remained in juryo since then, and although he was consistent enough to avoid demotion he did not like winning promotion back to the top division until 2019, when a majority of wins at juryo 1 saw him return to makuuchi after 30 tournaments away. This is the second longest gap between top division appearances after Satoyama's 37 tournaments.[5] He managed only a 6–9 record in his makuuchi return and was demoted back to juryo, but an 11–4 record from the top rank of Juryo 1 East ensured his immediate return to the top division. He also won the juryo division championship after a four-way playoff with Ikioi, Kaisei and Kiribayama, his first yusho in any division.[2]

Azumaryu remained in the top division for two tournaments, but was back in juryo for the third tournament of 2020, held in July. He missed the September tournament because of an outbreak of COVID-19 at his stable, but along with all his stablemates did not suffer any drop in rank as a result.[6] After spending the whole of 2021 in juryo, he won promotion back to makuuchi following a 10-5 record at juryo 2 in the March 2022 tournament. He had to withdraw from Day 11 of the July 2022 tournament after another COVID-19 outbreak at Tamanoi stable.[7] He returned to the top division for the November 2022 tournament at maegashira 14, and secured his first top division kachi-koshi in January 2023. In the following tournament in March he lost 11 of his 15 matches and was subsequently demoted back to juryo.[2]

Retirement from Sumo[]

Azumaryu injured his left knee in his opening bout of the November 2023 tournament against Hakuyozan, forcing his withdrawal from competition.[8] Soon after the release of the banzuke on December 25, 2023, Azumaryu, having been demoted out of sekitori status, retired from professional sumo. His retirement ceremony, or danpatsu-shiki, took place at the Ryogoku Kokugikan on September 28, 2024.[9]

Personal Life[]

  • Azumaryu has been married to a Mongolian woman one year his senior since 2011, when their marriage was registered in Ulaanbaatar. They have two daughters and one son. A formal wedding ceremony was held in Tokyo on 19 February 2023, one month after Azumaryu secured his first winning record in the top division.[10]
  • Azumaryu's favorite sumo wrestler is former ozeki Kaio.[3] His favorite food is meat, his hobby is massage, and his favorite movies are action movies, especially the Fast and Furious series.[11]
  • Up until September 2015, Azumaryu used Ulaanbaatar, the capital and largest city in Mongolia, as his official birthplace before switching to his actual birthplace of Govi-Altai.[2]

Fighting Style[]

Azumaryu's Fighting Style 3

Azumaryu defeats Tsushimanada by uwatenage (overarm throw)

Azumaryu prefers a migi-yotsu (left hand outside, right hand inside) grip on his opponent's mawashi.[11] His favorite kimarite or techniques are yorikiri (force out) and uwatenage (overarm throw).[12]

Record[]

Division Results[]

  • Total: 528-522-47/1047 (89 basho)
  • Makuuchi: 462-88-15/149 (11 basho)
  • Juryo: 355-363-32/716 (50 basho)
  • Makushita: 88-66/154 (23 basho)
  • Sandanme: 7-0/7 (1 basho)
  • Jonidan: 11-3/14 (2 basho)
  • Jonokuchi: 5-2/7 (1 basho)

Championships[]

  • 1 Juryo Championship (November, 2019)

Shikona History[]

  • Azumaryu Tsuyoshi (2008.11 - 2024.01)

Gallery[]

JSA Profile Pictures and Tegata[]

Career Overview[]

See Also[]

External Links[]

References[]

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