Masumeidai Shuichi - 舛名大 周一 (born March 16, 1984) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Okazaki, Aichi. He made his debut in November 2006 and last wrestled for Chiganoura stable. His highest rank was sandanme 89 and he retired in May 2011.
Early Life[]
Tanaka was born on March 16, 1984, in Okazaki, Aichi. He attended Kouzan Junior High School and Toyota Nishi High School. During his time in high school, he belonged on the swim team and specialized in freestyle. After graduating from high school, he enrolled at Nagoya University where he studied engineering.
In the summer of his first year in university, Tanaka took part at a sumo wrestling tournament at a school festival. This was his first time sumo wrestling and he subsequently joined the school's sumo club. From his second year onward, he became a regular at sumo tournaments and contributed wins at the National University Sumo Tournament in 2005 and 2006.
During a visit of Nagoya University's sumo club, he was scouted by Chiganoura Oyakata (former sekiwake Masudayama) for professional sumo. After failing the entrance exam for graduate school, Tanaka decided to join Chiganoura stable in September 2006. This made him the first sumo wrestler from Nagoya University to join professional sumo as well as the third from a National University (the first was Ichinoya from University of the Ryukyus and second was Yuminosato from Kochi University).
Career[]
He made his professional debut in November 2006 and was given the shikona "Masumeidai" (舛名大) where the "Masu" (舛) is derived from his stablemaster's shikona and "Meidai" (名大) from his university. In his first tournament, he finished with a strong 6-1 record which qualified him for a three-way playoff for the jonokuchi yusho, however, he lost in the final round to Hisanoumi. He spent the next two years in jonidan and was promoted to sandanme in May 2009. He finished with a 2-5 record in his sandanme debut and this proved to be his only tournament in sandanme. He injured his neck prior to the September 2009 tournament and had to miss the following four tournaments which resulted in him falling completely off the banzuke.
Retirement from Sumo[]
Masumeidai retired from sumo in May 2011 after two years of sitting out due to a neck injury. After retirement, he worked as a reporter for the Chunichi Shimbun sports section.
Fighting Style[]
Masumeidai defeats Kojima by yoritaoshi (frontal crush out)
Masumeidai was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. His most common kimarite was yorikiri (force out) followed by yoritaoshi (frontal crush out).
Record[]
Division Results[]
- Total: 57-56-27/113 (21 basho)
- Sandanme: 2-5/7 (1 basho)
- Jonidan: 48-50-14/98 (16 basho)
- Jonokuchi: 7-1-13/8 (3 basho)
Shikona History[]
- Masumeidai Shuichi (2006.11 - 2011.05)
Gallery[]
