Aotsurugi Kenta

Aotsurugi Kenta - 碧剣 健太 (born December 16, 1982) is a former Tongan professional sumo wrestler from Ha‘ateiho, Tongatapu. He made his debut in March 2001 and last wrestled for Tagonoura stable. His highest rank was sandanme 1 and he retired in May 2009.

## **Early Life**

Tevita Lato Taufa was born and raised in Tongatapu, Tonga. As an amateur he competed in the lightweight category at the Junior World Sumo Championships in 2000, just missing out on a bronze medal.

## **Career**

He made his professional debut in March 2001, joining the small Tagonoura stable. His first shikona or fighting name was Hisanoumi. He reached as high as sandanme 24 in the fourth highest division in November 2004, but injury meant he was not able to participate in any tournaments from November 2005 until September 2006. As a result, he fell off the banzuke (ranking list) completely in July 2006.

He finally returned to the ring in November 2006 and fought three maezumo (pre-sumo) bouts – effectively beginning his career all over again from the very bottom. He won all three bouts. At the end of 2006 he acquired Japanese citizenship. This allowed the Tagonoura stable to circumvent the Sumo Association's "one foreigner per heya" rule and recruit the Bulgarian Aoiyama. He reappeared on the banzuke in January 2007, ranked at jonokuchi 29. He then took the jonokuchi championship with a 6–1 record. By May 2007 he had progressed to jonidan 20 where he turned in another fine 6–1 score. This earned him promotion back to sandanme for July. In his first tournament in sandanme since September 2005 he could manage only a 2–5 score. In the September 2007 tournament, despite missing his first bout, he went on to record five wins and just one loss.

At the end of 2007 he changed his shikona from Hisanoumi Taiyo to Aotsurugi Kenta. His score of 4–3 at Sandanme 25 in the September 2008 tournament pushed him up to a new highest rank of Sandanme 12 for November 2008 and he reached the top of the division in the January 2009 tournament. He scored three wins against four losses at Sandanme 1 in that tournament.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

He missed the May 2009 tournament, and announced his retirement from sumo. Although he had had knee problems in the past, his stablemaster Tagonoura Oyakata (the former Kushimaumi) said that he had simply lost the will to fight. After retirement, he worked as a coach for his former stablemate, Hisanohana's sumo club.

## **Personal Life**

* In January 2007, Aotsurugi obtained Japanese citizenship. He changed his legal name from Tevita Lato Taufa to Tebita Togawa (十川テビタ).
* Prior to sumo, he studied at Tonga College 'Atele.

## **Fighting Style**

Aotsurugi was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. He won most of his bouts with a straightforward yorikiri, or force out. He was also fond of employing uwatenage, or overarm throw.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 154-126-42/279 (48 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 84-77-21/161 (26 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 59-46-14/104 (17 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 11-3-7/14 (3 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Jonokuchi** Championship (January 2007)

## **Shikona History**

* Hisanoumi Arashi (2001.03 - 2005.01)
* Hisanoumi Taiyo (2005.03 - 2007.11)
* Aotsurugi Kenta (2008.01 - 2009.05)

## **Gallery**

Aotsurugi with fellow Tongan, Minaminoshima (c. 2001)Aotsurugi and his stablemates (c. 2008)Aotsurugi prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2009)
## **Sources**

* Aotsurugi Kenta Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Aotsurugi Kenta Rikishi Information