Furuichi Sadahide

Furuichi Sadahide - 古市 貞秀 (born February 21, 1976) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Katano, Osaka. He made his debut in March 1998 and wrestled for Onomatsu stable. He reached the juryo division in January 2001. His highest rank was juryo 12 and he was dismissed in July 2010.

## **Early Life**

Sadahide Furuichi's parents ran a sumo dojo called "Furuichi Dojo". It was a famous destination for sumo training and future ozeki Goeido trained at the dojo. Furuichi was a member of the sumo club at Katano Shiritsu Daiyon Junior High School and continued his amateur sumo career all the way to the collegiate level where he competed for Kinki University. He competed in many national competitions, but could not qualify for makushita tsukedashi status. Nonetheless, he joined Onomatsu stable upon graduation in march 1998.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Furuichi produced a strong 6-1 record in his debut, where his only lost came to future sekitori Daishodai. In the following tournament he won all seven matches, but lost the playoff to Daishodai for the jonidan yusho. He bounced back in the following tournaments by claiming the sandanme yusho with a perfect 7-0 record. He was immediately promoted to the makushita division where he managed four wins. In September 1999, he posted a 6-1 record and competed in a six-man playoff for the yusho. He defeated Toyozakura in the first round, and future yokozuna Asashoryu in the second round, but he lost to Saigo in the third round. In November 2000, Furuichi produced a 5-2 record at the rank of makushita 4 which earned him a promotion to the salaried juryo division.

### **Juryo Career**

Upon promotion to juryo, he changed his shikona to "Komidori" (小緑). He possessed a lot of skill, but he only weighed 97 kg (213 Ib). Due to the size disparity, he could only manage three wins in his juryo debut and was demoted back down to makushita.

He reverted back to his family name as his shikona in September 2001. However, in this tournament he sat out of the tournament which resulted in a fall back down to sandanme. Nevertheless, he steadily rose up the banzuke and was promoted back to juryo in November 2002. Furuichi could only manage four wins in his return and was ultimately demoted back down to makushita. This proved to be his last tournament as a sekitori.

### **Later Career**

Furuichi remained in the mid-makushita ranks for majority of his later career. In March 2009, he fell back down to sandanme, but he immediately returned to makushita in the following tournament. He spent his last year in sumo bouncing back and forth between sandanme and makushita.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

### **Gambling Scandal and Dismissal**

In July 2010, he was said to be involved in the 2010 illegal baseball gambling scandal. He subsequently submitted his retirement papers to the Japan Sumo Association, but they rejected it and ultimately dismissed him from sumo. This meant that he was not given his entitled severance pay.

### **Imprisonment**

In June 2010, his older brother Mitsutomo Furuichi was arrested after threatening to extort ozeki Kotomitsuki over the gambling scandal. On January 26th, 2011, Furuichi was arrested alongside his mother and brother after it was revealed that they managed the gambling bets of the sumo wrestler's and were one of the main factors of the gambling ring. On July 2011, he was convicted of imprisonment with his mother. On October 6th, 2011, he was sentenced to prison for six years due to extortion and attempted extortion. His sentence was later downgraded to four years with labor. It was revealed that he extorted a former sumo wrestler of 3 million yen and acted as an intermediary for the yakuza and the sumo stables.

### **Post Prison Activities**

After prison, Furuichi opened up an izakaya restaurant called "Sake Sumo Furuichi" (酒処 角力古市) with his older brother Hidemitsu (not the brother who extorted Kotomitsuki). The restaurant is located in Osaka and is known for its chankonabe.

## **Personal Life**

* Furuichi's hobbies are shopping and walking.
* Even though he left sumo in a controversial manner, he still maintains relationships with many sumo wrestlers and rikishi such as Tokushoryu and Hayateumi have visited his restaurant.

### **Family**

Furuichi's older brother Mitsutomo was also a sumo wrestler. He joined Oshiogawa stable in March 1988 and wrestled under the shikona "Wakaryusei" (若隆盛). He reached the rank of makushita 30 and retired in May 1997. However, Mitsumoto is more known for attempting to extort ozeki Kotomitsuki. His older brother Hidemitsu was also a sumo wrestler.

## **Fighting Style**

Furuichi was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. He specialized in kuisagari, a tactic used by smaller wrestlers which involved pushing his head against the opponent's chest while pushing on the front part of the mawashi. His most common winning kimarite was kainahineri (two-handed arm twist down) which resulted in 33% of all his victories (0.2% on average for most wrestlers).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 277-243-14/520 (75 basho)
* **Juryo:** 7-23/30 (2 basho)
* **Makushita:** 227-207-14/434 (64 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 30-12/42 (6 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 7-0/7 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Sandanme** Championship (September 1998)

## **Shikona History**

* Furuichi Sadahide (1998.03 - 2000.11)
* Komidori Sadahide (2001.01 - 2001.07)
* Furuichi Sadahide (2001.09 - 2010.09)

## **Gallery**

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

Komidori Sadahide - 2001 (Retrieved from the JSA)Komidori's tegataFuruichi's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Furuichi after getting the sandanme yusho (c. 1998)Komidori trains after promotion to juryo (c. 2000)Komidori with his kesho-mawashi (c. 2001)Komidori battles Tamanokuni (c. 2001)Komidori returns to juryo as Furuichi (c. 2002)Furuichi recruits the future Onosho into sumoFuruichi falls to the unsalaried ranks in his later careerFuruichi apologizes to the media after gambling controversy (c. 2010)Furuichi and his brother outside of their restaurant (c. 2019)
## **Sources**

* Furuichi Sadahide Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Furuichi Sadahide Rikishi Information