Asasekiryū Tarō

Sumo wrestler infobox
wrestlername = 朝赤龍 太郎 Asasekiryū Tarō


realname = Badarchiin Dashnyam
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1981|08|7
placeofbirth = Ulan Bator, Mongolia
height = height|meters=1.84
weight = convert|141|kg|lb|abbr=on
heya = Takasago, formerly Wakamatsu
rank = Komusubi
record = 354-293-21
debut = January, 2000
highestrank = Sekiwake (September, 2007)
yushos = 1 (Jūryō)
1 (Jonidan)
prizes = Outstanding Performance (1)
Fighting Spirit (1)
Technique (2)
goldstars =
update = Sept 2008

Asasekiryū Tarō (born August 7, 1981 as Badarchiin Dashnyam, _mn. Бадарчийн Дашням, in Ulan Bator, Mongolia) is a sumo wrestler. The highest rank he has reached is "sekiwake".

Career

Asasekiryū first came to Japan in 1997 and fought his first professional sumo bout in January 2000, joining Wakamatsu stable (now Takasago stable). He won the tournament title in the "jonidan" division in May 2000 with a perfect 7-0 record. He earned promotion to the "jūryō" (second division) in July 2002, and to the top "makuuchi" division in March 2003, following his 11-4 score which won the "jūryō" championship.

He made little impact in the top division until March 2004, when he won his first twelve bouts, including a defeat of "ozeki" Kaiō. He finished as tournament runner-up with a 13-2 record and earned two special prizes for Technique and Outstanding Performance. In May 2006 he scored ten wins at "maegashira" 2 and won the Fighting Spirit prize. He was promoted to "komusubi" for the July 2006 tournament, but was forced to withdraw partway through the basho due to injury and had some mixed results after that. However, in May 2007, fighting from the mid "maegashira" ranks, he produced an outstanding 12-3 record. This gave him runner-up honours once again, and his second Technique prize.

Asasekiryū is a stablemate of "Yokozuna" Asashōryū, and often serves as a "tachimochi" or sword bearer during Asashōryū's "dohyō-iri" or ring entering ceremony. As stablemates never meet in official tournaments, Asasekiryū did not have the chance to fight a "yokozuna" and earn a gold star until July 2007, when he met (and lost to) new "Yokozuna" Hakuhō. The eight wins he managed in this tournament at "maegashira" 1 were enough to earn him promotion to "sekiwake" for September, his highest rank to date. He held his rank in that tournament, but after a disappointing 3-12 score in November 2007, he was demoted back to the "maegashira" ranks for the January 2008 tournament.

Asasekiryū produced two good performances in the first two tournaments of 2008. In January he scored ten wins and in March he defeated two "ozeki", and tournament runner-up Baruto to finish 8-7. This performance returned him to the titled "sanyaku" ranks for the May 2008 tournament, at "komusubi". However he was unable to maintain his ranking, only scoring six wins against nine losses.

His father was a Mongolian wrestler, holding a rank roughly equivalent to sumo's "komusubi".

Top division record

References

ee also

*Glossary of sumo terms
*List of active sumo wrestlers

External links

*Japanese Sumo Association Biography [http://sumo.goo.ne.jp/eng/ozumo_meikan/rikishi_joho/rikishi_2198.html (English)] [http://sumo.goo.ne.jp/ozumo_meikan/rikishi_joho/rikishi_2198.html (Japanese)]
* [http://www.fsinet.or.jp/~sumo/profile/1/20030301.htm complete biography and basho results (Japanese)]