Tobizaru Masaya
Tobizaru Masaya (翔猿 正也, born April 24, 1992 as Masaya Iwasaki (岩﨑 正也, Iwasaki Masaya)) is a professional sumo wrestler from Japan and wrestles for Oitekaze stable. He made his top division debut in September 2020.
| Tobizaru Masaya | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | Masaya Iwasaki April 24, 1992 Edogawa, Tokyo, Japan |
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) |
| Weight | 131 kg (289 lb) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Oitekaze |
| University | Nihon University |
| Current rank | see below |
| Debut | January 2015 |
| Highest rank | Maegashira 4 (November, 2020) |
| Special Prizes | 1 Fighting Spirit |
| * Up to date as of January 24, 2021. | |
He is the brother of active wrestler Hidenoumi, who is a former top division wrestler for Kise stable; they became the 18th pair of sekitori brothers in sumo history.[1] Despite the fact that they are in different stables, Tobizaru will not face him in competition as Japan Sumo Association rules prevent close relatives from being matched against each other outside of playoff bouts.
Career
Masaya Iwasaki followed his elder brother Takuya into sumo, joining the same sumo club in his first year of elementary school.[2] He was also interested in baseball, and had thoughts of becoming a professional baseball player, but gave up the game for sumo when he started junior high school. The future Hokutofuji was a contemporary of his at high school. He studied economics at Nihon University and was a member of their sumo team, but weighing only around 110 kg and having to sit out a year with an ankle injury he did not manage to win any major amateur titles. Deciding to turn professional, he opted not to join his brother who was already a sekitori at Kise stable, preferring the challenge of making his way on his own. Instead he joined Oitekaze stable, also home to Endō who was two years his senior at university.[3] He made his debut in January 2015, competing under his family name of Iwasaki. Upon reaching the jūryō division after the May 2017 tournament he changed his shikona to Tobizaru (literally "Flying Monkey") as he was born in the year of the monkey and he considers his darting movement in the sumo ring similar to a monkey.[3][2] He recorded only six wins and nine losses in his jūryō debut in July and was demoted back to makushita in September 2017. His 5–2 record at Makushita 2 in the September tournament would normally have been good enough for an immediate re-promotion, but there were only two openings and priority went to Takagenji and Takanoshō. Tobizaru had to wait until the March 2018 tournament to return to jūryō, but he has maintained his sekitori status ever since.
Tobizaru earned promotion to the top makuuchi division for the September 2020 tournament after a 9–6 record at Jūryō 2 in July. He and Hidenoumi became the 11th pair of brothers to both have reached makuuchi. Tobizaru said he hoped his brother would be able to earn promotion back to makuuchi. He was also the tenth member of Oitekaze stable to reach makuuchi since its founding, the last being Tsurugishō in September 2019.[4] In his makuuchi debut he came close to becoming the first wrestler since Ryōgoku Kajinosuke II in 1914 to win the championship in his first top division tournament, needing to beat Shōdai on the final day to force a playoff, but he was defeated and finished with a 11–4 record. He was awarded the Fighting Spirit prize.[5]
Fighting style
Tobizaru is below the average size for an elite sumo wrestler, being the second lightest sekitori when he reached jūryō in 2017, and he stands just 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) tall.[6] He is an oshi-sumo specialist, preferring to push his opponents rather than grab the mawashi or belt. His likes to pull his opponents down at the edge of the ring, with a high percentage of his victories being by hataki-komi (slap down) and hiki-otoshi (pull down). He is also good at kicks and leg sweeps. His style is fast-paced, and he regularly sidestepped at the initial charge when in jūryō, but in his makuuchi debut made a conscious effort to fight more on the offensive.[2]
Career record
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | (Maezumo) | West Jonokuchi #17 6–1 |
West Jonidan #30 6–1 |
West Sandanme #66 6–1 |
Sandanme #11 6–1 |
West Makushita #37 5–2 |
| 2016 | East Makushita #24 4–3 |
West Makushita #19 4–3 |
West Makushita #13 4–3 |
West Makushita #10 4–3 |
West Makushita #7 5–2 |
East Makushita #3 2–5 |
| 2017 | East Makushita #10 6–1 |
East Makushita #3 4–3 |
West Makushita #2 6–1 |
West Jūryō #14 6–9 |
East Makushita #2 5–2 |
West Makushita #1 3–4 |
| 2018 | West Makushita #3 4–3 |
East Jūryō #13 7–8 |
West Jūryō #13 7–8 |
West Jūryō #13 9–6 |
East Jūryō #10 7–8 |
West Jūryō #11 8–7 |
| 2019 | West Jūryō #10 7–8 |
East Jūryō #11 7–8 |
West Jūryō #12 10–5 |
West Jūryō #6 7–8 |
West Jūryō #8 6–9 |
East Jūryō #10 8–7 |
| 2020 | West Jūryō #6 9–6 |
East Jūryō #4 10–5 |
East Jūryō #2 Tournament Cancelled 0–0–0 |
East Jūryō #2 9–6 |
East Maegashira #14 11–4 F |
West Maegashira #4 6–9 |
| 2021 | West Maegashira #7 6–9 |
x | x | x | x | x |
| Record given as win-loss-absent Top Division Champion Top Division Runner-up Retired Lower Divisions Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique Also shown: ★=Kinboshi(s); P=Playoff(s) | ||||||
References
- "岩崎改め翔猿が新十両 １８組目の兄弟関取に" (in Japanese). Sponichi. 31 May 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
- "Sumo: Sumo's "flying monkey" ready to show he is no 1-hit wonder". Kyodo News. 15 October 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- ""A fast sumo that can't be imitated" Tobizaru promoted to Juryo". The Mainichi (in Japanese). 9 June 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
- "2020 September Grand Sumo Tournament Banzuke Topics". Japan Sumo Association. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
- "Sumo: Shodai yet to take in reality of winning 1st title". The Mainichi. 28 September 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
- Morita, Hiroshi (2 October 2020). "Making Ozeki with a first title". NHK World Japan. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
- "Tobizaru Masaya Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
External links
- Tobizaru Masaya's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage
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