Career
Kisenosato joined Naruto stable and fought his first bout in March 2002 under his own surname of Hagiwara. He rose quickly through the divisions, entering the second jūryō division in May 2004, aged 17 years and 9 months, the second youngest ever jūryō wrestler after Takanohana, whom Kisenosato had idolised when he was a boy. Three tournaments later, in November 2004, he entered the top makuuchi division, again the second youngest (18 years 3 months) after Takanohana. To mark his entry into the top division he assumed the shikona name Kisenosato.
After entering the top division his rise slowed significantly; his only spectacular result in 2005 was 12 wins against three losses in the September 2005 tournament, where he was runner-up and was awarded the Fighting Spirit prize. He was promoted to the rank of komusubi in July 2006, which he held until March 2007 when he fell back to maegashira 1.
Kisenosato has been involved in some controversial bouts with yokozuna Asashōryū. He defeated him for the first time in September 2006, and was awarded the Outstanding Performance Prize. Shaken by this, Asashōryū responded in the next tournament by leaping to the side at the tachi-ai and employing a highly unusual leg kicking technique called ketaguri. Afterwards Asashōryū was criticised by the Yokozuna Deliberation Committee for using this rare move. In March 2007 Kisenosato slapped Asashōryū around the face during their match. Asashōryū was so riled by this that he gave Kisenosato a small kick in the back after the bout was over, which prompted much criticism from the Japanese media.
In July 2007 he turned in a strong 11-4 record and derailed Kotomitsuki's hopes of a tournament championship on the final day by slapping him down. This earned him promotion back to komusubi for September 2007. Kisenosato defeated Asashōryū once again in the yokozuna's comeback tournament in January 2008, earning him his first gold star (his first win over Asashōryū had been at komusubi rank so he was ineligible then) and his second Outstanding Performance Prize. Returning to komusubi in the March 2008 tournament, he lost to Asashōryū on the opening day but defeated three out of four ōzeki and held his rank with an 8-7 score.
In May 2008 he scored another win over Asashōryū on opening day, finishing with a strong 10-5 record and a share of the Fighting Spirit prize. Despite this he failed to be promoted to sekiwake, only the third time since 15 day tournaments were introduced in 1949 that a komusubi with ten wins has not moved up the rankings. Kisenosato spent nine tournaments at komusubi without making sekiwake, which has only happened to three previous wrestlers, Dewanishiki, Fujinishiki and Takamiyama. Back in the maegashira ranks for the September 2008 tournament, he was the only man to defeat tournament winner Hakuhō, earning him his second gold star, but he fell short with six wins against nine losses.
In November 2008 he scored 11-4, sending him to komusubi for the fifth time in the January 2009 tournament. He scored eight wins there, and Aminishiki's losing record meant Kisenosato finally made his long-awaited sekiwake debut in March 2009, in his tenth tournament at a san'yaku rank. He produced a somewhat disappointing 5-10 record and was demoted to maegashira 4 in May. However, he proved this rank was too low for him by producing a 13-2 record, his best ever top division score, and won his third Fighting Spirit prize. This performance returned him immediately to sekiwake for the July 2009 tournament. He came though with a good 9-6 score there, defeating Asashōryū (for the fourth time) and three ōzeki. In September he failed on the final day to get kachi-koshi but remained in the san'yaku ranks at komusubi for the November tournament. However, a 6-9 in Kyushu saw him drop back to the maegashira ranks.
In January 2010 he won his first five matches, before losing five in a row. He finished on 9-6 and returned to komusubi for the March tournament. He remained in san'yaku for the next three tournaments but fell back to maegashira 1 in November 2010. On the second day of the Kyushu tournament he upset Hakuhō, bringing to an end the yokozuna's post-war record of 63 consecutive victories. He was rewarded with the Outstanding Performance prize and promotion back to sekiwake. He defeated Hakuhō once again in the following tournament, scoring 10-5 and winning another Outstanding Performance award, his fourth. Japan Sumo Association official Takanohana said after the tournament that Kisenosato would be considered for promotion to ōzeki if he won at least 13 bouts in the March 2011 basho, which would give him 33 wins over three tournaments (the usual minimum requirement for ōzeki). However, that tournament never took place due to a match-fixing scandal and in the subsequent 'technical examination' tournament in May he secured a majority of wins only on the final day.
Read more about this topic: Kisenosato Yutaka
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