[sumo] Hakuho Article

[Jeff Anderson]

>From todays' Daily Yomiuri (or tomorrow's, depending on where you live) :-)
 
Best regards,
Jeffrey Anderson
Gaijingai
 
For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these:
It might have been. - John Greenleaf Whittier
 

Hakuho promoted to yokozuna


James Hardy / Daily Yomiuri Sportswriter

For the first time since 2003, sumo has two grand champions. 

Hakuho officially became the 69th yokozuna Wednesday after the directors of
the Japan Sumo Association voted unanimously to promote the winner of the
last two Emperor's Cups. 

Following a tried-and-tested formula, the 22-year-old promised the
messengers who brought news of his promotion to Miyagino stable in Sumida
Ward, Tokyo, he would do his best "not to stain the rank of yokozuna." 

"I will thoroughly concentrate my spirit and make every effort to pursue the
way of sumo," continued the Mongolian, who was flanked by his stablemaster
and the stablemaster's wife. 

Hakuho is the first yokozuna to be promoted since compatriot Asashoryu in
January 2003. Wednesday's ceremony was a formality after he won the Summer
Grand Tournament over the weekend with a perfect 15-0 record. 

At 22 years and 2 months, Hakuho is the third-youngest yokozuna after
legendary champions Taiho and Kitanoumi and the first out of Miyagino stable
since Otori--the 24th yokozuna--in 1915. 

Following the ceremony, the new yokozuna posed with the traditional lucky
sea bream, raised a glass in celebration and took questions from the press. 

Was it tough remembering the words to his acceptance speech? "I chose them
last night. After I had read it once, it was easy to remember," said Hakuho,
who on Tuesday had worried out loud about fluffing his lines. 

Asked what kind of yokozuna he aspired to be, Hakuho ran down a list of the
sport's greatest names. 

"Taiho, Kokonoe [former yokozuna Chiyonofuji], Kitanoumi, Takanohana and
Asashoryu. If I can even get one win closer to them, then I will have done
well. 

"I want to polish my sumo so it is the embodiment of 'spirit, technique and
mind.'" 

Hakuho, whose real name is Munkhbat Davaajargal, was born on March 11, 1985.
His father, Jigjid, was a yokozuna in Mongolian sumo and a silver medalist
in freestyle wrestling at the 1968 Mexico Olympics. 

Making his sumo debut in March 2001, Hakuho quickly moved up the ranks. 

He made his juryo division debut in January 2004; in March of the same year,
he won the juryo title to gain promotion to the top makuuchi division. 

On his makuuchi debut, Hakuho compiled a 12-3 record and won his first--and
only--Fighting Spirit Award. 

Consecutive winning records through 2004, which also saw his first win over
Asashoryu, were rewarded with promotion to komusubi for the 2005 New Year
basho. 

At sumo's fourth highest rank, Hakuho lived up to expectations and finished
with an 11-4 record that immediately earned him promotion to sekiwake. 

But in the Nagoya Tournament that July, the sekiwake's promotion push was
derailed by injury. Withdrawing with a 6-3 record, Hakuho was demoted back
to the maegashira ranks for the Autumn Tournament and didn't really recover
his mojo until January 2006, when he marked his return to sekiwake with a
13-2 performance that again included a defeat of Asashoryu. 

When he followed that with another 13-2 performance in March and his first
Emperor's Cup on his ozeki debut in May, it seemed yokozuna promotion was
just around the corner. 

But in Nagoya, a first-day loss put Hakuho out of the running and despite a
third straight 13-2 performance, he was passed over for promotion. 

An 8-7 slump the next tournament apparently confirmed the sumo association's
suspicions, and when he withdrew from the final tournament of the year with
a broken toe suffered in a freak training accident, it looked like the
wheels were falling off his plans for sumo immortality. 

But the ozeki bounced back at the New Year Tournament this January with a
solid 10-5 record. At the Spring basho in March, he came out of the blocks
like a greyhound on amphetamines and shrugged off a first-day loss to finish
the basho tied at 13-2 with Asashoryu for the championship. 

Sidestepping the yokozuna in a controversial playoff win, Hakuho carried
that momentum into the just-finished Summer Tournament, where he swept all
who came before him to seal promotion in style. 

Hakuho's ability to beat the dominant wrestler of the decade has marked him
out from the rest of the makuuchi division, and raised expectations of a
long rivalry between the two, who are the third and fourth foreign-born
yokozuna respectively. 

Kitanoumi, who as a yokozuna in the 1970s developed a great rivalry with
Wajima, was cautiously optimistic the newest member of the elite would be up
to the task. 

"Hakuho is still young but we want him to do his best as a yokozuna," the
current association chairman said. 

"It will be a long road from here, but we want him to move ahead with all
his spirit." 

His optimism was shared by chief judge Hanaregoma, who also speculated that
Hakuho might be feeling the pinch. 

"There is probably more pressure on him than he has experienced before, but
I want him to be a powerful yokozuna," Hanaregoma said. "On the rankings
there will now be a balance between east and west. I'm looking forward to
seeing them battle it out on the final day." 

(May. 31, 2007)