Chiyohakuho Daiki

Chiyohakuho Daiki - 千代白鵬大樹 (born April 21, 1983) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Yamaga, Kumamoto. He made his debut in March 1999 and wrestled for Kokonoe stable. He reached the makuuchi division in July 2008. His highest rank was maegashira 6 and he retired in May 2011.

Early Life[]

Kakiuchi attended Kyushu Gakuin Lutheran Junior High School and was a member of the school's judo club. At the time he had little experience with sumo, but his judo teacher was a friend of Kokonoe-oyakata, the 58th yokozuna Chiyonofuji. After being introduced he joined Kokonoe stable, making his professional debut in March 1999. His stablemate, Chiyotaikai, made his debut at the rank of ozeki in the same tournament.

Career[]

Early Career[]

He initially fought under his own surname, before adopting the shikona of Chiyohakuho in November 1999. (He has no connection to the better known wrestler Hakuho, who did not make his debut until March 2001.) In September 1999 he won all seven matches, but lost the playoff for the jonidan yusho against Musashifuji. Nonetheless, he was immediately promoted to sandanme.

On the seventh day of the May 2000 tournament, during match against Asanokiri, Asanokiri's mawashi loosened and his genitals became exposed before the gyoji could stop the match. As a result, Asanokiri was disqualified and the win was awarded to Chiyohakuho. This was the first time in 83 year since May 1917 when juryo wrestler Otokojima lost to makushita Tomonoyama in the same fashion. The match was featured on the front page of Nikkan Sports the next day, and was telegraphed to the world by Reuters. It was also listed in the Guinness Book of Records as "the rarest way to lose in sumo".

After two years in sandanme he was promoted to makushita in January 2001. He gradually rose through the makushita ranks and in January 2005, he produced a perfect 7-0 record at the rank of makushita which guaranteed him a promotion to juryo.

Juryo Career[]

Chiyohakuho struggled in his juryo debut and lost his first seven matches. On the eleventh day he twisted his ankle and subsequently withdrew from the tournament. As a result he was demoted down to makushita, but would immediately return to juryo in the following tournament. However, in his return to juryo Chiyohakuho could only muster out six wins and fell back down to makushita.

He wrestled in makushita for around two years and after six consecutive winning records he was promoted back to juryo in May 2007. After six unremarkable tournaments he took the juryo division championship with a 13-2 record in May 2008, and this was just enough to earn him promotion to the top makuuchi division at the lowest rank of maegashira 16.

Makuuchi Career[]

Chiyohakuho came through with a bare majority of eight wins against seven losses in his top division debut in July 2008. He could only manage six wins in the next tournament but remained in the division, and a score of 9-6 in November pushed him up to maegashira 9 for the January 2009 tournament. He recorded six wins against nine losses there. Falling to maegashira 13, he produced a strong 10-5 record in March, which sent him up to what was to be his highest rank of maegashira 6.

He made a good start to the May 2009 tournament but was forced to pull out after damaging knee ligaments in his Day 4 defeat to Kisenosato. He was demoted back to the juryo division for July 2009 as a result. He was unable to secure an immediate return to the top division, scoring only 7-8 in the July tournament. In September 2009 he withdrew once again after winning only three bouts in the first ten days, and he remained in juryo after that.

Retirement from Sumo[]

G20110417000644310 view — Chiyohakuho shortly after his danpatsu-shiki

Chiyohakuho submitted his retirement papers on April 1st, 2011, due to his involvement in 2011 match-fixing scandal (see controversy section for more information). After retirement he held several different jobs, but none of them went to plan. In January 2017 it was reported that he returned to his hometown of Yamaga, Kumamoto, and was involved in the agriculture sector. He founded a company with two friends in January 2016 and began producing young barley leaves in February 2017. He also works as an actor and usually portrays a sumo wrestler.

Controversy[]

Drug Test Evasion[]

In September 2008 Chiyohakuho was the only wrestler who did not take part in the surprise drug tests of the seventy sekitori that led to the dismissals of Roho and Hakurozan. In June 2009, along with other members of the Kokonoe stable and four other sables, he was tested, and he expressed his relief at finally having done so.

Gambling Scandal[]

He was suspended along with over a dozen other wrestlers from the July 2010 tournament after admitting involvement in illegal betting on baseball. As a result, he fell to the makushita division in September. This also left Kokonoe stable without any sekitori. However, he scored 6-1 from the rank of makushita 5 , enough for an immediate return to juryo.

Match-fixing Scandal[]

In February 2011, Chiyohakuho reportedly admitted to fixing or throwing bouts in which he was involved in advance, after police investigating the baseball affair found text messages on his mobile phone apparently arranging the outcome of matches and discussing payments. On February 4, he tendered his resignation to the Japan Sumo Association. However, no decision on his future was made until an investigation into the affair by an independent panel concluded on April 1, when the Sumo Association announced the "advised retirements" of 21 wrestlers and two coaches. Because he admitted his involvement Chiyohakuho was given a two-year suspension instead, along with coach Takenawa (former maegashira Kasuganishiki) and suspected go-between Enatsukasa. However, his letter of resignation was accepted. Chiyohakuho gave a public apology, saying "I'm very sorry for causing trouble to the JSA and sumo fans."

Fighting Style[]

Like his stablemate Chiyotaikai, Chiyohakuho favoured pushing and thrusting techniques, as opposed to grabbing the opponent's mawashi. His most common winning techniques were oshidashi, the push-out, hatakikomi, the slap down, and tsukiotoshi, the thrust over.