Shōtenrō Taishi

翔天狼大士 Shōtenrō Taishi
Personal information
Born	Nyamsuren Dagdandorj January 31, 1982 (1982-01-31) (age 29) Mongolia
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in)
Weight	146 kg (320 lb; 23.0 st)
Career
Heya	Fujishima
Current rank	see below
Debut	March, 2001
Highest rank	Maegashira 2 (July, 2009)
Yūshō	2 (jūryō)
Sanshō	Fighting Spirit (1)
Kinboshi	1 (Hakuhō)
* Career information is correct as of Nov 2011.

Shōtenrō Taishi (born 31 January 1982 as Nyamsuren Dagdandorj) is a sumo wrestler from Khovd Province, Mongolia. He joined professional sumo in 2001 and was known as Musashiryu Taishi until 2007. He made the top makuuchi division for the first time in 2009 and his highest rank has been maegashira 2. He wrestles for Fujishima stable (formerly Musashigawa stable).

Early life and entry into sumo

It has been reported that in his childhood in Ulan Bator he lived in the same apartment complex as future sumo contemporary Mōkonami, though they never met in person. As an amateur, Dagdandorj took third place in the open weight division in the Junior World Sumo Championships in 2000.^[1] He began his professional career in March 2001, at the same time as Hakuhō. He was given the shikona of Musashiryu, the prefix being a common one at Musashigawa stable.

Career

His rise through the ranks was relatively smooth until he reached the third highest makushita division in January 2003, where an early injury put him out of action and dropped him back to the sandanme division. He continued to struggle with his own sumo and injuries in the these two divisions for the next five years, changing his shikona to Shotenro in 2007 in a bid to improve his fortunes. When he finally found his stride again, his steady rise to the top division was a stark contrast to his previous struggles; he reached makuuchi after winning two consecutive jūryō division championships, only the third post-war wrestler after Kushimaumi and Miyabiyama to achieve this feat. All in all, it had taken him 48 tournaments from his professional debut to reach the top makuuchi division, the third slowest at the time amongst foreign born wrestlers. In July 2009 he was awarded the Fighting Spirit Prize for his record of eleven wins and four losses. In the September tournament he won his first kinboshi, becoming the first maegashira in a year to defeat Hakuhō, but could win only one other match. A 9-6 score in the following tournament in November seemed to steady him, but he suffered a surprising slump in January 2010 and a poor 3-12 record saw him demoted to jūryō. He returned to the top division for the July 2010 tournament, and after slipping back to jūryō in September won promotion again for November 2010.

In 2011 he was one of several wrestlers investigated by the Sumo Association after his name was mentioned in a text message about match-fixing. The text, dating from May 2010, was sent by low ranker Enatsukasa, an alleged go-between, to juryo wrestler Chiyohakuho and said, "the match with Shotenro is for real", implying that bouts with other wrestlers were being fixed.^[2] Shotenro vehemently denied any involvement in bout-rigging, and in April 2011 was found not guilty by the investigative panel.^[3]

He missed the start of the November 2011 tournament after undergoing surgery for appendicitis.

Fighting style

He is an oshi-sumo specialist, preferring pushing and thrusting techniques. He is however also capable of fighting on the mawashi or belt, where he prefers a migi-yotsu (left hand outside, right hand inside) grip. His most common winning move is oshi dashi (push out), followed by yori kiri (force out).

Top division record

Shōtenrō Taishi^[4]

year in sumo	January Hatsu basho, Tokyo	March Haru basho, Osaka	May Natsu basho, Tokyo	July Nagoya basho, Nagoya	September Aki basho, Tokyo	November Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka
2009	x	West Maegashira #12 7–8	East Maegashira #15 8–7	East Maegashira #10 11–4 F	East Maegashira #2 2–13 ★	East Maegashira #12 9–6
2010	West Maegashira #9 3–12	(Juryo)	(Juryo)	West Maegashira #16 5–10	(Juryo)	East Maegashira #16 9–6
2011	East Maegashira #11 8–7	West Maegashira #8 Tournament Cancelled 0–0–0	West Maegashira #8 4–11	West Maegashira #13 7–8	West Maegashira #14 9–6	East Maegashira #8 –
Record given as win-loss-absent    Top Division Champion Retired Lower Divisions Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique     Also shown: ★=Kinboshi(s) P=Playoff(s) Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi Makuuchi ranks: Yokozuna — Ōzeki — Sekiwake — Komusubi — Maegashira

See also

• List of sumo tournament second division winners
• List of active sumo wrestlers

References

1. ^ Gilbert, Howard (February 2009). "Amateur angles". Sumo Fan Magazine. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ss20011120a2.html. Retrieved 2009-09-23. 
2. ^ "Sumo: Shotenro says it just ain't so to match fixing". Breibart. 21 February 2011. http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9LH57380&show_article=1. Retrieved 7 April 2011. 
3. ^ "SUMO/ Angry sumo wrestlers threaten to sue over lifetime ban". Asahi Shinbun. 5 April 2011. http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201104040170.html. Retrieved 7 April 2011. 
4. ^ "Shotenro Taishi Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. http://sumodb.sumogames.com/Rikishi.aspx?r=1141. Retrieved 2009-07-28. 

External links

• Shōtenrō Taishi's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage

Persondata
Name	Shotenro Taishi
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1982-01-31
Place of birth	Mongolia
Date of death
Place of death