Kotooshu Katsunori

Kotooshu Katsunori - 琴欧洲 勝紀 (born February 19, 1983) is a former Bulgarian professional sumo wrestler from Dzhulyunitsa, Veliko Tarnovo. He made his debut in November 2002 and wrestled for Sadogatake stable. He reached the makuuchi division in September 2004 and has 5 special prizes and 1 top division championship. His highest rank was ozeki and he retired in March 2014.

## **Early Life**

Kaloyan Stefanov Mahlyanov was born the second son of a family of four in Dzhulyunitsa, a small village in Veliko Tarnovo Province, Bulgaria. Mahlyanov first enjoyed playing striker in the sport of soccer, but due to his large physique he was only allowed to play the goalie position.

He then transitioned to greco-roman wrestling and by the age of five he was already taught the basics of wrestling by his father. By the age of 14 he had already won a European championship. He was accepted by the Bulgarian National Sports Academy where he majored in wrestling. He hoped to compete for Bulgaria in the 2000 Olympic Games, but as his weight increased beyond the 120 kg upper limit, he switched instead to sumo.

He then competed and placed third place in the European Sumo Championships in both the individual and group tournament. Mahlyanov later competed in the German Sumo Championship in 2001 where he won the whole tournament. Coincidentally, Sadogatake Oyakata (former 53rd yokozuna Kotozakura) was at the tournament doing some scouting and was impressed both with his performance and his filial duty of sending money home to his parents.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Mahlyanov's professional sumo debut was in November 2002, starting in the lowest-ranked jonokuchi division. He was given the shikona of Kotooshu, derived from his place of origin — koto, shared by all wrestlers at his stable, and oshu, meaning Europe. (Following the September 2006 tournament, he changed one of the characters in his ring name, 州 becoming 洲, although the pronunciation, shu, is the same for both.)

Kotooshu took the jonokuchi division yusho with a perfect 7-0 record and sped through the jonidan and sandanme divison with three consecutive 6-1 records. He continued his strong sumo run in the makushita with two consecutive 5-2 records and 1 6-1 record in January 2004. In the following tournament, Kotooshu won all seven matches at the rank of makushita 2 and secured a promotion to the juryo division.

### **Juryo Career**

Kotooshu made his juryo debut in the May 2004 tournament and produced a double-digit 10-5 record. In the following tournament, Kotooshu defeated Kitazakura on the final day to finish with a 13-2 record and the juryo division yusho. This also earned him a promotion to makuuchi. Kotooshu made his makuuchi debut only 11 tournaments after his professional debut, the fastest rise since the introduction of the six tournaments per year system in 1958.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Kotooshu made his makuuchi debut in the September 2004 tournament and continued his strong run. He produced a 9-6 record in his debut and in the following tournament, Kotooshu posted an 11-4 record and received his first special prize. In the next tournament, Kotooshu scored a 9-6 record and earned promotion to the san'yaku rank of komusubi.

In Kotooshu's san'yaku debut, he produced his first make-koshi or losing record of 4-11 and was demoted back to the maegashira ranks. He quickly bounced back with a 10-5 record and was promoted back to komusubi for the July 2005 tournament.

### **Ozeki Career**

In the July 2005 tournament Kotooshu defeated Asashoryu for the first time with an overarm (uwatenage) throw, bringing to an end a run of 24 consecutive bout victories for the yokozuna. He also was the runner up in the tournament, winning an "outstanding performance" sansho prize.

Kotooshu was promoted to sekiwake for the following September tournament and won his first twelve bouts, finishing with an exceptional 13–2 runner up record and only losing the tournament victory after a play-off bout with Asashoryu. An 11–4 record in the final (November) tournament of 2005 was his third runner-up performance in a row and included another victory over the otherwise dominant Asashoryu. This led to his promotion to the rank of ozeki on November 30, 2005. His three-tournament record (on which ozeki promotions are based) was 36–9. His promotion coincided with the retirement of his stablemaster, former yokozuna Kotozakura.

His promotion to ozeki took only 19 tournaments from his professional sumo debut. Although he was not the youngest ozeki ever, this represents the most rapid rise for a wrestler entering sumo from the bottom jonokuchi division. (Certain experienced amateur wrestlers can be given dispensation to start in the third-highest makushita division.) He is also the first wrestler of European birth to hold the ozeki rank, and the fifth non-Japanese to have achieved it (following Konishiki, Akebono, and Musashimaru from Hawaii and Asashoryu from Mongolia).

After his promotion, Kotooshu was somewhat restricted by a knee injury. He was also criticised for relying too much on the henka technique– jumping to the side at the initial charge. It is not considered to be a move worthy of someone at his high rank.

Kotooshu managed only three double-figure scores in 2006, and none at all in 2007, only doing enough to maintain his rank. Shortly before the November 2007 tournament he dislocated his right knee in training. Clearly troubled by the injury he pulled out on the 7th day, the first time in his career that he has had to withdraw from a tournament. He preserved his ozeki rank with a 9–6 score in January 2008. In the Osaka tournament of March 2008 he injured his left arm in a match with Kakuryu on the 4th day and withdrew on Day 9 with only two wins. There was speculation that he would be demoted to sekiwake in the following tournament in May.

Needing eight wins to hold his rank in the May 2008 tournament, he won 12 consecutive bouts including dominating victories against yokozuna Asashoryu on the 11th day and yokozuna Hakuho on the 12th day. He was easily defeated by Aminishiki on the 13th day, but came back strong to defeat Ama on the 14th day, becoming the first European to win a top division championship. His father was in the crowd to witness his victory. He was also congratulated by the Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov.

Kotooshu was unable to follow up his victory with a push for yokozuna promotion, producing scores of only 9–6 and 8–7 in the next two tournaments. In October 2008 he denied allegations by disgraced former wrestler Wakanoho that he had thrown matches against Kotooshu in return for money, saying "I am saddened by this. It is all lies." Wakanoho subsequently retracted his comments. He produced scores of 10–5 in the first two tournaments of 2009, the best record amongst his fellow ozeki. In the May 2009 tournament, he finished the tournament with a 9–6 score. However, he ended yokozuna Hakuho's 33-bout winning streak on the 14th day. In July 2009 he was in contention for the yusho until the final day and finished runner-up with an impressive 13–2 score. He never won more than ten bouts in a tournament after that. He pulled out of the May 2011 tournament on Day 11, citing a knee injury. He returned in July and preserved his rank by securing his eighth win on Day 10 (the last bout of fellow ozeki Kaio's career), finishing on 9–6. However he withdrew once again in September after suffering five defeats in the first six days. In the May 2012 tournament Kotooshu withdrew with an ankle ligament injury on the last day, handing opponent Tochiozan his twelfth victory by default and eliminating Hakuho and two maegashira from the yusho race. The crowd showed their displeasure by booing as his withdrawal was announced. He continued to suffer from injury problems, also withdrawing from the September 2012 as well as the March, September and November 2013 tournaments.

### **Later Career**

Having failed to record winning records in two consecutive tournaments, he was relegated back to sekiwake at the January 2014 tournament. He had been an ozeki for 47 tournaments, which is the fourth highest in sumo history. A record of at least 10–5 at sekiwake in January would have allowed him to immediately regain his ozeki rank. However, he suffered his 6th loss on the 13th day against Endo.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

He retired during the following tournament in March after 9 losses in a row, saying "I’ve had so many injuries recently, but I have no regrets because I gave it my utmost over 12 years." In 2014 he obtained Japanese nationality and legally changed his name to Karoyan Ando (安藤 カロヤン, Ando Karoyan), he has stayed in sumo as an elder of the Sumo Association. He acquired the Naruto toshiyori kabu or elder license in 2015, and began as a coach at Sadogatake stable.

Ando Karoyan (Kotooshu) opened his own stable of wrestlers, Naruto stable (鳴戸部屋 Naruto-beya) in April 2017. He is the first European-born sumo wrestler to run his own stable and the third wrestler born outside Japan. His title is sumo elder Naruto Katsunori. The stable started with three wrestlers, including a 20-year-old Bulgarian junior wrestling champion. Having studied training theory at Nippon Sport Science University following his retirement, he was keen to develop his own training methods based on his sumo experience and studies at both Bulgarian and Japanese universities.

Kotooshu was appointed as a shimpan (ringside judge) in March 2022. He made his debut as a judge at the May 2022 tournament.

## **Personal Life**

* Kotooshu and a football player, Hristo Stoichkov, are said to be the two most famous Bulgarian people in Japan.
* He is noted for being a fan of the singer Ayaya, so much so that it prompted a commercial where they appear together (although a surprised Kotooshu found out the day of filming that their parts were to be digitally melded). He often appears in TV commercials of yogurt products. This is because a Japanese dairy company, Meiji Dairies Corporation, sells a series of yogurt products under the name of Bulgaria Yogurt.
* Because of his good looks, the Japanese audience calls him Sumo David Beckham- a nickname from which Kaloyan has repeatedly expressed his displeasure.
* He was chosen as a special judge for the 56th edition of Japan's annual Kouhaku Utagassen on December 31, 2005.
* Kotooshu's hobby is golf. Kotooshu's favorite color is blue. Kotooshu's favorite food is ramen. Kotooshu's favorite place to visit is Hokkaido and Okinawa.
* Kotooshu dislikes gambling heavily and when he lost ten dollars to a casino slot machine he became "traumatized" and vowed to never gamble again.

### **Awards**

* He was named Athlete Number 1 for 2005 in Veliko Tarnovo district.
* In 2006 he was awarded the title "Honorary Citizen of Lyaskovets".
* He was made the Goodwill Ambassador to Japan by the European Union in April 2006.
* On July 28, 2009 he was awarded by the President of Bulgaria Georgi Parvanov with the highest state honors – the prestigious Order of Stara Planina.

### **Family**

* Kotooshu's father was born in 1955 or 1956 and his mother was born in 1960 or 1961 in Bulgaria.
* One of the reasons that led to Kotooshu's introduction to sumo wrestling was to help with the household, because his father could not work due to a traffic accident. Kotooshu sent money to his parents in Bulgaria, but his parents said "I want the child (Kotooshu) to use it for himself." Until now, he is a filial son who gave a washing and drying machine to his mother, a wristwatch to his father, and two cars (a used Ford car and a new Toyota Land Cruiser). In later years Kotooshu said, "Why do Japanese people ask their parents to send them money after getting started? It's weird."
* In May 2009 Kotooshu announced his engagement to 29-year-old Asako Ando from Ichinomiya, Aichi, whom he had dated for the previous five years. The first time he became acquainted with her, he called her at a convenience store in Nagoya in 2004. A long-distance romance between Chiba and Aichi continued for five years until he proposed. The following February, had a ceremony at Hie Shrine (Chiyoda-ku). They married in February 2010, on St. Valentine's Day, at the New Otani Hotel in Tokyo, with around 600 guests including yokozuna Hakuho attending.Kotooshu acquired the surname of his wife and his official name became Karoyan Ando. They welcomed their first son, Kiril Ando, in November 2011.
* He injured his right knee towards the end of the May 2010 tournament which required surgery and forced him to cancel plans to have a second wedding ceremony in Bulgaria, at the Evksinograd resort in Varna, during the European Sumo Championships.

## **Fighting Style**

Kotooshu was a tall and rather light rikishi at 203 cm (6 feet, 8 inches) and 152 kg (334 pounds). In comparison, former yokozuna (grand champion) Akebono, at the same height, weighed 235 kg (517 pounds) at his peak. Yokozuna Asashoryu had about the same weight, but is only 184 cm in height. Kotooshu primarily relied on so-called 'belt-throws' to win his sumo bouts. He typically preferred to take a hidari-yotsu (left-hand inside grip) on his opponent's mawashi (the belt that is fixed around the wrestler's waist), although he was right-handed and his overall profile showed him preferring migi-yotsu (right-hand inside grip). He used his long arms and quick footwork to counteract his high center of gravity and relatively light weight. His most common winning kimarite was yorikiri, the force out, followed by uwatenage, the outer arm throw.

Kotooshu has remarked that his tournament victory was partially due to a weight gain of five kilos which enabled him to be sturdier against his opponents.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 537-337-67/864 (68 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 466-322-67/778 (57 basho)
* **Juryo:** 23-7/30 (2 basho)
* **Makushita:** 23-5/28 (4 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 12-2/14 (2 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 7-0/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makuuchi** Championship (May 2008)
* 1 **Juryo** Championship (July 2004)
* 1 **Makushita** Championship (March 2004)
* 1 **Jonokuchi** Championship (January 2003)

### **Achievements**

* **Special Prizes:** Fighting Spirit Prize (3), Outstanding Performance Prize (2)
* **Record:** **4th** Most Tournaments Ranked at Ozeki (47)
* **Record:** Tied for **4th**: Fastest progress to top division (12)
* **1st** Bulgarian Sumo Wrestler
* **1st** Bulgarian promoted to Juryo
* **1st** Bulgarian promoted to Makuuchi
* **1st** Bulgarian promoted to San'yaku
* **1st** Bulgarian promoted to Ozeki

## **Gallery**

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

Kotooshu Katsunori - 2013 (Retrieved from the JSA)Kotooshu Katsunori - 2012 (Retrieved from the JSA)Kotooshu Katsunori - 2012 (Retrieved from the JSA)Kotooshu Katsunori - 2005 (Retrieved from the JSA)Kotooshu Katsunori - 2005 (Retrieved from the JSA)Kotooshu Katsunori - 2004 (Retrieved from the JSA)Kotooshu Katsunori - 2004 (Retrieved from the JSA)Kotooshu's tegataKotooshu's tegata as an Ozeki
### **Career Overview**

Kotooshu gets measured upon joining sumo (c. 2002)Kotooshu throws Hoshikaze in Maezumo (c. 2002)Kotooshu during his time in Maezumo (c. 2002)Kotooshu wins his first Jonokuchi Yusho (c. 2003)Kotooshu defeats Kisenosato in Makushita (c. 2003)Kotooshu after promotion to Juryo (c. 2004)Kotooshu throws and defeats Tokitenku (c. 2004)Kotooshu prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2004)Kotooshu wins his first Juryo Yusho (c. 2004)Kotooshu after promotion to Makuuchi (c. 2004)Kotooshu presented with his kesho mawashi (c. 2004)Kotooshu defeats future Yokozuna Hakuho (c. 2004)Kotooshu with his first of many sansho prizes (c. 2004)Kotooshu after promotion to Komusubi (c. 2005)Kotooshu defeats Yokozuna Asashoryu (c. 2005)Kotooshu after promotion to Sekiwake (c. 2005)Kotooshu throws and defeats Tamanoshima (c. 2005)Kotooshu loses the Yusho playoff to Asashoryu (c. 2005)Kotooshu gets promoted to Ozeki (c. 2005)Kotooshu celebrates promotion to Ozeki (c. 2005)Kotooshu after promotion to Ozeki (c. 2005)Kotooshu defeats Tamanoshima (c. 2006)Kotooshu throws and defeats Toyonoshima (c. 2007)Kotooshu defeats Ama to win his first Yusho (c. 2008)Kotooshu wins his first Yusho (c. 2008)Kotooshu celebrates his first Yusho (c. 2008)Kotooshu's first Yusho parade (c. 2008)Kotooshu presented with his Yusho portrait (c. 2008)Kotooshu throws and defeats Yokozuna Hakuho (c. 2009)Kotooshu defeats future Yokozuna Kakuryu (c. 2010)Kotooshu defeats Ozeki Kaio (c. 2011)Kotooshu defeats Yokozuna Hakuho (c. 2012)Kotooshu defeats Yokozuna Hakuho (c. 2013)Kotooshu withdraws and loses his Ozeki rank (c. 2013)Kotooshu defeats fellow Bulgarian, Aoiyama (c. 2014)Kotooshu loses his final match to Yokozuna Hakuho (c. 2014)Kotooshu announces his retirement (c. 2014)Kotooshu's retirement ceremony (c. 2014)Kotooshu after retirement as Naruto Oyakata (c. 2023)
## **See Also**

* List of European Sumo Wrestlers
* List of Tallest Sumo Wrestlers

## **Sources**

* Kotooshu Katsunori Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Kotooshu Katsunori Rikishi Information