[sumo] Tochiazuma Story

[Jeff Anderson]

Here's a nice retrospective of Tochi's career from the Daily Yomiuri today.
 
Best regards,
Jeffrey Anderson
Gaijinai
 
For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these:
It might have been. - John Greenleaf Whittier
 

Tochiazuma calls it quits


James Hardy / Daily Yomiuri Sportswriter

Ozeki Tochiazuma announced his retirement from the ring on Monday, a sad but
not unexpected move that ended a career in top-flight sumo frequently
interrupted by injury. 

Health problems that included high blood pressure and signs of a stroke led
to the ozeki's withdrawal from March's Spring Grand Sumo Tournament after he
had secured his rank with an eighth win. 

After a series of tests at a Tokyo hospital late last month, the 30-year-old
Tamanoi stable wrestler decided to retire while he still had time on his
side. 

Speaking Monday, the three-time Emperor's Cup winner said he had lost the
motivation needed to compete at the top. 

"I've lost the spirit I need to do sumo, so it's best for me to retire,"
Tochiazuma said. "As an ozeki, if you can't perform in the ring, you should
quit. I've done my best for a long time now, so there are no regrets." 

After the announcement, the Japan Sumo Association approved his appointment
as an elder for three years under his fighting name, after which he will
inherit Tamanoi stable--and that name--from his father. 

"I think the most disappointed person will be Tochiazuma himself,"
association chairman Kitanoumi said. 

A member of the "Dragon generation" of wrestlers born in 1976 that includes
sekiwake Kotomitsuki and ozeki Chiyotaikai, Tochiazuma will be remembered
for his physical strength and stubborn defense. A great belt specialist
early in his career--during which he won seven Technique Prizes--injuries
forced a more defensive style in recent years. 

"When he was rising up the rankings, his sumo was outstanding," Kitanoumi
said. "Even when he was hampered by injuries, he did his best." 

Knee injuries in particular prevented Tochiazuma from throwing as he did in
his prime, but he developed a cautious and effective style that when
healthy, allowed him to beat the best--as his third Emperor's Cup in January
2006 showed. 

Tochiazuma made his debut in November 1994. He won every division title on
the way to a juryo debut as a 20-year-old at the 1996 Summer Tournament,
where he fought using his father's former ring name for the first time--he
had previously fought under the family name Shiga. 

As in the other divisions, Tochiazuma made a quick impression in juryo,
winning the title two months after promotion to ensure his makuuchi debut at
the Kyushu Tournament in November 1996. 

Komusubi promotion followed in July 1997 and in Autumn 1997 he stepped into
the ring as a sekiwake. 

In Spring 1998, Tochiazuma suffered the first of many withdrawals, but
recovered to become a sanyaku fixture throughout 1999 and 2000. Injury
intervened again in Autumn 2000, but a series of strong performances as a
sekiwake led to ozeki promotion ahead of the 2002 New Year Tournament. 

Tochiazuma won the Emperor's Cup on his ozeki debut--exactly 30 years after
his father's only makuuchi championship--but consecutive 10-5 performances
in March and May meant yokozuna promotion remained out of reach. A second
Emperor's Cup in November 2003 raised expectations again, but a 9-6
performance in the next tournament and another withdrawal in the next
scuppered those hopes. 

As an ozeki he withdrew from tournaments eight times and is the only ozeki
to successfully return to the rank twice--most recently ahead of the 2005
New Year Tournament. 

Tochiazuma retires with a makuuchi division record of 483 wins, 296 losses
and 166 bouts missed through injury, a figure that shows how injury left the
last years of his career interspersed with glimpses of what could have been.


"It's sad," said former yokozuna Takanohana. "There's no other way of saying
it. But his reason for retiring is ill health, so I want him to take care of
himself from now on."