Hakurozan Yuta

Hakurozan Yuta - 白露山 佑太 (born February 6, 1982) is a former Russian professional sumo wrestler from Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia–Alania. He made his debut in May 2002 and last wrestled for Kitanoumi stable. He reached the makuuchi division in July 2005. His highest rank was maegashira 2 and he was dismissed in September 2008.

## **Early Life**

Batraz Boradzov began wrestling at the age of 14, winning the world junior championship aged 16. He started sumo aged 18, winning the Moscow over 100 kg championship. He came to Japan in February 2002 with his brother Soslan. They had intended to join the same stable, but sumo regulations limit the number of foreign wrestlers to one per stable, so Batraz joined Hatachiyama stable while Soslan entered Otake stable. As with his brother, his shikona contains the character 露, which can mean Russia.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Hakurozan rose up the ranks rather quickly and did not produce his first losing record until his seventh professional tournament where he was already ranked in the mid-makushita area. He produced four straight winning records from the start of 2004 and was promoted to juryo in September of the same year.

### **Juryo Career**

Hakurozan had a strong start to his first juryo tournament and was at 8 wins to 2 losses by the end of the tenth day. However, he went on a slump and lost his last five matches to finish with a passable 8-7 record. In the following tournament he again produced a bare minimum winning record. In January 2005 he produced a strong 10-5 record and was promoted to the top of juryo. He was promoted to makuuchi in July 2005 after posting a 10-5 record at the rank of juryo 3.

### **Makuuchi Career**

After a 10-5 result in May 2006 he reached maegashira 2, but a disastrous 2-13 the following tournament took him down to maegashira 10. In June 2006 his Hatachiyama stable closed down after his stablemaster (ex-ozeki Hokutenyu) suddenly passed away. He transferred to Kitanoumi stable where he joined fellow Russian Orora.

He clung on to his top division status with an 8-7 mark at maegashira 14 in January 2007, but a poor 5-10 record in March meant he was demoted back to juryo for the May 2007 tournament. He achieved nine wins there, which was enough to earn promotion to the top division in July. However, hampered by chronic knee problems, he could manage only three wins in the November 2007 tournament and was demoted to the second division once again. Scraping by with two 8-7 marks in the first two tournaments of 2008, he returned to makuuchi at maegashira 15 in May. Once again he could not maintain his top division ranking, only managing to win four matches.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

### **Cannabis Scandal and Dismissal**

On September 2, 2008, he and his brother Roho had a positive test result for cannabis. This test occurred less than two weeks after fellow Russian Wakanoho was sacked after being arrested for cannabis possession, and the surprise inspection was taken on 69 juryo and higher ranked wrestlers including the two yokozuna. Although the Metropolitan Police Department questioned the two wrestlers and searched their rooms, no further legal action was taken because it is not illegal to fail a drug test under Japanese law.

On September 6, Hakurozan and Roho failed a second, more detailed set of doping tests conducted by an internationally certified laboratory, Mitsubishi Chemical Medience Corp, which showed levels of the drug far beyond what could be consumed by secondhand smoke.

On September 8, the Japan Sumo Association held a meeting of the board of directors and decided on the dismissals of Roho and Hakurozan. The chairman of the Sumo Association, Kitanoumi, resigned to take responsibility as Hakurozan belonged to his stable. Kitanoumi said that Hakurozan "had told me he had not used it, and I believed him." Both wrestlers moved out of their respective stables but stayed in Japan on short term visas and continued to deny any wrongdoing.

On October 28, the brothers filed a lawsuit against the Sumo Association with the Tokyo District Court seeking to revoke their dismissals, claiming the tests were administered incorrectly. They also sought 100 million yen in damages. Their demands were rejected by the court in March 2009, the judge saying "“It is recognisable that the two used marijuana...and the use of marijuana was an act to damage trust of the association." The lawyer for the brothers indicated that they would appeal the ruling.

The brothers reappeared in court on June 29, 2009, testifying for two and a half hours and criticising the conduct of the tests once again. Cross-examination of witnesses began on August 31, with Isenoumi Oyakata, Tomozuna Oyakata and Otake Oyakata among those called. Kitanoumi, Hakrozan's stablemaster, testified on December 21, saying he voted for expulsion "mainly because Hakurozan was my deshi and I didn't want to be seen as protecting him." Unlike his brother, Hakurozan was not in attendance as he has returned to Russia.

The court found in favor of the Sumo Association on April 19, 2010, with the judge saying, "It has been proven that urine samples which showed positive results for marijuana were theirs, and it is unthinkable that they were mixed up with samples of others... the association's decision to dismiss them was adequate given that the use of illegal drugs had become a serious social problem."The District Court's ruling was upheld by the Tokyo High Court on November 18, 2010.

## **Personal Life**

Hakurozan is known for his mild and calm personality which is unlike his brother who has been known for his hot temper. for example, Hakurozan usually listens to classical music, like Beethoven, in the preparation room as it calms him before his matches. In addition, at the funeral of his stablemaster, Hakurozan showed no effort to hide his tears.

Hakurozan has been balding since his early twenties and is known for his uniquely shaped chonmage. His hair became so thin that it was unnecessary for him to have a danpatsu-shiki as he had very little hair remaining on his head.

## **Fighting Style**

Hakurozan often relied on sidestepping at the tachi-ai, like his brother. He frequently employed pull-down techniques such as hataki-komi and hiki-otoshi. Although yorikiri, or force out, was listed on his Sumo Association profile as his favorite technique, with a migi-yotsu or left hand outside and right hand inside grip as his preference, he ended up using hatakikomi more than any other winning technique throughout his career.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 233-218/451 (38 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 97-128/225 (15 basho)
* **Juryo:** 74-61/135 (9 basho)
* **Makushita:** 34-22/56 (8 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 11-3/14 (2 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 11-3/14 (2 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)

### **Achievements**

* **1st** pair of foreign brothers to make the sekitori ranks simultaneously

## **Gallery**

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

Hakurozan Yuta - 2005 (Retrieved from the JSA)Hakurozan Yuta - 2005 (Retrieved from the JSA)Hakurozan Yuta - 2004 (Retrieved from the JSA)Hakuyozan's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Hakurozan after promotion to Juryo (c. 2004)Hakurozan after promotion to Makuuchi (c. 2005)Hakurozan and his older brother, RohoHakurozan during the Makuuchi dohyo-iriHakurozan defeats future ozeki BarutoHakurozan defeats Georgian Kokkai (c. 2007)Hakurozan's unique oi-chonmage (c. 2008)Hakurozan and Roho address their positive cannabis result (c. 2008)Hakurozan's stable master resigns after the scandal (c. 2008)

## **Sources**

* Hakurozan Yuta Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Hakurozan Yuta Rikishi Information