Keitenkai Kosei

Keitenkai Kosei - 慶天海 孔晴 (born March 10, 1990) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Setouchi, Kagoshima. He made his debut in January 2008 and currently wrestles for Onomatsu stable. He reached the juryo division in September 2012. His highest rank as of 2023 is juryo 11.

## **Early Life**

Kosei Kei grew up on the Amami Oshima island, where sumo is extremely popular. As a result, he took up sumo from a young age and began practicing at the age of three. In junior high school, Kei would practice everyday for three hours at his school's sumo club. He later moved to study abroad at Saitama Sakae High School, known for its prestigious sumo program. However, in his first year of high school he dislocated his shoulder and was out for the rest of the year. He returned in his second year and earned 5th place at the national tournament. Upon graduation from high school, he joined Onomatsu stable in January 2008.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Kei got off to a strong start and produced two consecutive 6-1 records. However, he sat out of the July 2008 tournament to undergo surgery on his right shoulder. He sat out of the following tournament as well and fell back to the bottom of jonidan. In his return he won all seven matches and was placed in a playoff against Torugawa. He defeated Keitenkai by uwatenage to win the jonidan yusho, however, he also seriously injured his left knee ligament and subsequently pulled out of the following tournament. He returned in March 2009 and began to gradually rise up the rankings. In July 2010, he was promoted to makushita. After six consecutive winning records, Kei was promoted to the salaried juryo division in September 2012.

### **Juryo Career**

Upon promotion to juryo, he changed his shikona from his family name to "Keitenkai" (慶天海). He was promoted simultaneously with stablemate Tanzo. He defeated ex-komusubi Kokkai in his first match, but lost to heavyweight Tokushinho in his second match. During this match he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament on his right knee and was given a one-year recovery time. As a result, he withdrew from the tournament on the third day.

### **Later Career**

After sitting out for six straight tournaments, Keitenkai fell all the way down to the lowest division of jonokuchi. He won both the jonokuchi and jonidan yusho upon his return and was promoted back to makushita two tournaments later in March 2014. In January 2015, Keitenkai was at the verge of promotion back to juryo as he was ranked at makushita 2, however, he lost on the last day to finish with a 3-4 record. After this, he went on a slump and wrestled mainly in the mid-makushita ranks.

Keitenkai sat out of the September 2016 tournament due to an operation on his right knee. As a result, he was regulated back to sandanme, but immediately returned to makushita after one tournament. In January 2016, he defeated fellow Kagoshima-native Shosei after two torinaoshi's (rematch).

## **Fighting Style**

Keitenkai is a yotsu-sumo wrestler, preferring grappling techniques to pushing and thrusting. His most common winning kimarite is a straightforward yorikiri, or force out, and he uses a hidari-yotsu grip on the mawashi or belt, with his right hand outside and left hand inside his opponent's arms. He is also regularly wins by shitatenage, or underarm throw.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 333-248-78/580 (94 basho)
* **Juryo:** 1-2-12/2 (1 basho)
* **Makushita:** 209-180-24/389 (59 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 84-63-28/147 (25 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 26-2-14/28 (6 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 13-1/14 (2 basho)

### **Championships**

* 2 **Jonidan** Championships
	+ 1st (November 2008)
	+ 2nd (November 2013)
* 1 **Jonokuchi** Championship (September 2013)

## **Shikona History**

* Kei Kosei (2008.01 - 2012.07)
* Keitenkai Kosei (2012.09 - )

## **Gallery**

### **JSA Profile Pictures and Tegata**

Keitenkai Kosei - 2012 (Retrieved from the JSA)Keitenkai's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Kei becomes Keitenkai upon promotion to Juryo (c. 2012)Keitenkai poses in his new kesho-mawashi (c. 2012)Keitenkai's Nobori banner (c. 2012)Keitenkai in the juryo ring entrance ceremony (c. 2012)Keitenkai loses to Tochihiryu in juryo (c. 2015)Keitenkai battles future Yokozuna Terunofuji (c. 2019)
## **Sources**

* Keitenkai Kosei Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Keitenkai Kosei Rikishi Information