Takao Yu - 隆王 瑜 (born December 28, 1969) is a former Chinese professional sumo wrestler from Shanghai. He made his debut in July 1991 and wrestled for Naruto stable. His highest rank was sandanme 41 and he retired in March 2003.
Early Life[]
Yu Wang was born on December 28, 1969, and raised in Shanghai, China. He was a practitioner of judo and was a member of an amateur judo club based in Shanghai. At the time, he watched many sumo programs and was quite familiar with the sport. Since he had relatives living in Japan, he applied for a tourist visa to visit them in Tokyo. He met Naruto-Oyakata (the 59th yokozuna Takanosato) from an acquaintance and was accepted to the stable after an invite from the stablemaster himself.
Career[]
He made his professional debut in July 1991 and was given the shikona "Takao" (隆王). Since he had no prior sumo experience he struggled to adapt to the sport and could not break past the jonidan division for his first couple years. He finally earned promotion to the sandanme division in November 1993. However, he did not establish himself as a sandanme regular until May 1998. He was promoted to a career-best sandanme 41 in July 1998. He would remain in the sandanme and jonidan divisions for the majority of his later career.
Retirement from Sumo[]
Takao's chankonabe restaurant in Shanghai (c. 2005)
In the January 2003 tournament, Takao produced a 1-6 record and was demoted back down to the jonidan division for the following tournament. He sat out of this tournament and his retirement was announced after the March 2003 tournament. At the time of retirement, he was the third oldest rikishi in jonidan at the age 33.
Upon retirement from sumo, Wang returned to Shanghai and opened up a chankonabe restaurant.
Fighting Style[]
Takao was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. He won majority of his bouts with a straightforward yorikiri, or force out.
Record[]
Division Results[]
- Total: 236-246-8/482 (71 basho)
- Sandanme: 84-112/196 (28 basho)
- Jonidan: 148-131-8/279 (41 basho)
- Jonokuchi: 4-3/7 (1 basho)
Shikona History[]
- Takao Yu (1991.07 - 2003.03)
Gallery[]
