Dewaotori Taichi

Dewaotori Taichi - 出羽鳳太一 (born November 22, 1985) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Higashisumiyoshi-ku, Osaka. He made his debut in March 2004 and wrestled for Dewanoumi stable. He reached the juryo division in May 2006. His highest rank was juryo 10 and he retired in September 2017.

Early Life[]

Matsumoto attended a sumo dojo in elementary school and his coach was an alumnus of the prestigious Dewanoumi stable, which Matsumoto would later join. He attended Meitoku Gijuku High School in Kochi Prefecture and was a member of the school's sumo club. In 2003 he became the high school yokozuna. From an early age, Matsumoto visited Dewanoumi stable's training sessions in Osaka and was already well acquainted with the stable. Because of this, he joined the stable after graduation from high school.

Career[]

Early Career[]

He made his debut in March 2004 and was given the shikona "Dewaotori" (出羽鳳). He won the jonokuchi yusho with a perfect 7-0 record and continued to accelerate through the rankings. After three consecutive 6-1 records he was promoted to makushita by his fifth professional tournament. He gradually climbed the ranks of makushita and in January 2006 he participated seven man playoff for the makushita yusho, but he lost in the first round to future ozeki Baruto. Nonetheless, he was promoted to the top of makushita where he posted a 4-3 record which earned him a promotion to the salaried juryo division.

Juryo Career[]

Dewaotori was only 20 years old at the time of his promotion and was seen by many as a new prospect. He produced a solid 8-7 record after defeating Hokutoiwa on the last day. He was promoted to a career-best juryo 10 in the following July 2006 tournament, but in this tournament he produced a poor 6-9 record after losing seven straight matches at one point. In September 2006, he could only manage two wins and was demoted back down to makushita after a total of three tournaments as a sekitori.

Later Career[]

Dewaotori continued his slump and by 2008 he had fallen back down to sandanme. He returned to makushita in March 2009 and participated in a playoff for the makushita yusho, but lost to Sadanofuji in the second round. Dewaotori bounce between sandanme and makushita for majority of his later career. By 2012, Dewaotori's weight had dropped significantly due to diabetes (171 kg in his heyday to 135 kg), and his hair was starting to thin due to oral medications.

Retirement from Sumo[]

In March 2017, Dewaotori participated in his last makushita tournament where he went winless. He officially announced his retirement on August 9th, but his name still appeared on the September 2017 banzuke.

Fighting Style[]

Dewaotori's favored techniques are listed at the Sumo Association as migi-yotsu (a left hand outside, right hand inside grip on the opponent's mawashi) and yori (forcing). His most common kimarite was yorikiri (force out) which accounted for over half of his victories.