Hakuba Takeshi

Hakuba Takeshi - 白馬毅 (born May 5, 1983) is a former Mongolian professional sumo wrestler from Ulaanbaatar. He made his debut in January 2000 and last wrestled for Michinoku stable. He reached the makuuchi division in May 2008. His highest rank was komusubi and he retired in May 2011.

Early Life[]

Ariunbayar Unurjargal was born in Töv Province, but raised in the country's capital of Ulaanbaatar. He had little background in sports. However, his aunt living in Japan had an acquaintance who knew the coach of Tatsutagawa stable. He was encouraged to come to Japan and try out. The Tatsutagawa coach had originally intended for Hakuba to join another stable in the same ichimon, Michinoku, as his own stable would be disbanded upon his impending retirement. However, at the time of Hakuba's entry in January 2000, Michinoku already had its Japan Sumo Association designated limit of foreign wrestlers. Hakuba was therefore allowed to join Tatsutagawa after all, with the understanding he would join Michinoku upon Tatsutagawa being shut down, which occurred in September 2000. His shikona or fighting name was chosen by Michinoku's support committee and combines the character for "white", because a white star is what a winning bout is called in sumo terminology, and the character for "horse", an emotive image of Mongolia.

Career[]

Early Career[]

Exactly a year after entering sumo, he won the jonidan division championship or yusho, the first his stable had had. However, after this he struggled for several years in the middle division ranks. In January 2003 he was promoted to the makushita division. He gradually rose through the makushita ranks and in January 2006, he won six out of his seven matches and qualified for a seven-man playoff; however, he lost in the second round. Nonetheless, he was promoted to makushita 9 where he produced another 6-1 record and was promoted to makushita 2 in Ma 2006. Four tournaments later he won the makushita yusho and was promoted to juryo in January 2007.

Juryo Career[]

Hakubasumo — Hakuba prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2010)

Hakuba got off to a rough start in juryo and was at three wins and seven losses by the end of the tenth day, however, he won his following five matches to finish with an 8-7 record. After a year of mixed results, Hakuba posted an 11-4 record in January 2008 and was promoted to juryo 3 for the March tournament. At the tournament he produced an 8-7 record and was promoted to makuuchi for the May 2008 tournament.

Makuuchi Career[]

His rise to makuuchi was the second slowest for a foreigner after Sentoryu. He struggled in his makuuchi debut and could only finish with four wins and was demoted back down to juryo. After a year and half in juryo he was promoted bak to makuuchi. His second appearance in makuuchi at his highest yet achieved rank of maegashira 14 was in January 2010 and he secured his kachi-koshi by Day 10, finishing on 9–6. This took him to a new highest rank to date of maegashira 9 in March. He came through with another winning record there and was promoted to maegashira 5 for the May tournament.

The May 2010 basho was Hakuba's most successful yet. He scored ten wins from his new highest rank, and defeated two ozeki, fellow Mongolian Harumafuji (in his first bout against an ozeki), and Kotooshu. He was rewarded with promotion to komusubi for the July 2010 tournament, becoming the first member of the old Tatsutagawa stable to reach the titled san'yaku ranks and the first from Michinoku since the present stablemaster (former ozeki Kirishima) took over in 1997. He could manage only four wins in his komusubi debut.

Retirement from Sumo[]

2017051900075 5 — Hakuba after retirement

Hakuba was one of 23 wrestlers found guilty of fixing the result of bouts after an investigation by the Japan Sumo Association, and he was forced to retire in April 2011. On June 18th, his wedding reception and danpatsu-shiki, or retirement ceremony, was held at a hotel in Tokyo. Since 2013 he has been working at a restaurant called "Ulaanbaatar" in Ryogoku run by his mother, specializing in Mongolian food.

Personal Life[]

Some tabloids in Japan had implied his romantic relationships with several female celebrities, including glamour model Nozomi Sasaki until he announced publicly in January 2010 that he had married the younger sister of fellow Mongolian rikishi Tokitenku on October 3, 2008. The wedding ceremony took place on June 18, 2011 at Tokyo's Metropolitan Hotel, which Hakuba combined with his danpatsu-shiki or retirement ceremony. He has a daughter born in November 2008.

Unlike most of his Mongolian contemporaries, Hakuba had no experience with Mongolian wrestling (Bokh). Prior to joining sumo he had little experience with sports and at most participated in basketball and judo events for a couple of weeks.

Hakuba's hobby is watching movies.

Fighting Style[]

Hakuba was one of the lightest wrestlers in the top division, with a typical fighting weight of around 120 kg (260 lb). He was a yotsu-sumo specialist, preferring grappling techniques. His favoured grip on his opponent's mawashi was hidari-yotsu, a right hand outside, left hand inside position. His most common winning kimarite is a straightforward yori-kiri or force out. He also regularly employed both uwatenage (overarm throw) and shitatenage (underarm throw). He often used henka (side-stepping) at the tachi-ai for which he was routinely criticized.