Shironoryu Yasumasa

Shironoryu Yasumasa - 城ノ龍 康允 (born September 7, 1983) is a former Mongolian professional sumo wrestler from Töv Province. He made his debut in January 2003 and wrestled for Sakaigawa stable. He reached the juryo division in September 2010. His highest rank was juryo 1 and he retired in September 2013.

## **Early Life**

Erdentsogt came to Japan in 2000 at the age of 16 to study abroad at Tottori Johoku High School. He was classmates with future sekitori Daishoumi, and he was also a member of the school's strong sumo club. After graduation from high school he joined Sakaigawa stable in January 2003 and was given the shikona "Shironishiki".

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Shironishiki breezed through the bottom two divisions and after three tournaments in sandanme, he was promoted to makushita in March 2004. In his makushita he produced a strong 6-1 record and was promoted to the upper-half of makushita, however, he struggled and even fell back down to sandanme in September 2004. After this he bounced back and forth between makushita and sandanme for around three years.

In January 2007, he changed his shikona to "Shironoryu" and produced three straight winning records from sandanme which sent him all the way up to makushita 13. After this he wrestled mainly in the upper ranks of makushita. On the first day of the July 2009 tournament, he suffered a retinal detachment on his left eye and subsequently withdrew from the tournament. In July 2010, Shironoryu was ranked at the rank of makushita 4 (a career-best for him at the time), however it was revealed that he was involved in the 2010 illegal baseball gambling scandal that was rocking the sumo world at the time. Luckily it was not deemed serious enough to warrant a suspension. He produced a 5-2 record in this tournament and was promoted to juryo in September 2010.

### **Juryo Career**

Shironoryu had a strong sekitori debut and was in contention for the juryo yusho for the majority of the tournament. He finished with a strong 10-5 record and was boosted up 10 ranks to the top to juryo. Ranked at juryo 1, he wrestled many top juryo wrestlers and he also wrested a match in the top makuuchi division against Shotenro. However, Shironoryu could only muster out 6 wins in his tournament and was demoted down to mid juryo. In the January 2011 tournament he injured the anterior cruciate ligament on his right knee in match against Nionoumi on the tenth day and withdrew form the tournament on the eleventh day. In the following tournament he was ranked at juryo 11 and he produced a poor 5-10 record. This would usually result to a fall back to makushita, however, due to the 2011 match-fixing scandal many slots were available and Shironoryu was bumped up to juryo 9. He remained in juryo for four more tournaments before falling back down to makushita in March 2012.

Shironoryu remained in makushita for five tournaments and was promoted to juryo in January 2013. He injured his neck in a match against Kitaharima on the tenth day and withdrew from the tournament on the eleventh day. As a result he had to sit out for a whole month to treat is cervical spine injury.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Shironoryu cited that his knees were deteriorating and his sumo was worsening. As a result he announced his retirement after the September 2013 tournament. His danpatsu-shiki, or retirement ceremony, was held in Tokyo on October 5th, 2013. He returned to Mongolia after his retirement ceremony. As of 2017 he currently works as a medical-related businessman.

## **Personal Life**

* He obtained Japanese nationality on November 6th, 2009. He changed his legal name from Erdentsogt Odogerel to Kosei Kobayashi (小林光星). His surname "Kobayashi" is the same as his stablemaster (ex-komusubi Ryogoku).
* His hobby is listening to music.

## **Fighting Style**

Shironoryu is a yotsu-sumo wrestler who favours grappling techniques as opposed to pushing and slapping his opponent. His preferred grip on his opponent's mawashi is migi-yotsu, a left hand outside, right hand inside position. He regularly wins by shitatenage (underarm throw) and uwatenage (overarm throw). However his most common winning kimarite is yori-kiri, a straightforward force out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 261-234-18/493 (64 basho)
* **Juryo:** 51-76-8/125 (9 basho)
* **Makushita:** 153-131-10/284 (42 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 39-24/63 (9 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 12-2/14 (2 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Shironishiki Yasumasa (2003.01 - 2006.11)
* Shironoryu Yasumasa (2007.01 - 2013.09)

## **Gallery**

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

Shironoryu Yasumasa - 2011 (Retrieved from the JSA)Shironoryu Yasumasa - 2010 (Retrieved from the JSA)Shironoryu's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Shironoryu defeats Nakanokuni with zubineri (c. 2010)Shironoryu outside of the Ryogoku Kokugikan (c. 2010)Shironoryu after promotion to Juryo (c. 2010)Shironoryu prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2010)Shironoryu during the Juryo dohyo-iri (c. 2013)Shironoryu's retirement ceremony (c. 2013)

## **Sources**

* Shironoryu Yasumasa Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Shironoryu Yasumasa Rikishi Information