Tamawashi Ichiro

Tamawashi Ichiro - 玉鷲 一朗 (born November 16, 1984) is a Mongolian professional sumo wrestler from Ulaanbaatar. He made his debut in January 2004 and currently wrestles for Kataonami stable. He reached the makuuchi division in September 2008 and has 4 special prizes, 7 kinboshi and 2 top division championships. His highest rank as of 2023 is sekiwake.

## **Early Life**

In Mongolia, Munkh-Orgil was working toward a career in the hotel industry, but was encouraged to come to Japan by his older sister who was studying there. On a visit to see his sister in Japan, they went to Ryogoku where Tokyo's official tournaments are held. They happened to wander by Izutsu stable and had a chance to meet the up-and-coming Mongolian sumo wrestler for that stable, Kakuryu. They talked about the prospects of Munkh-Orgil joining a stable and Kakuryu put him in touch with former senior Mongolian sumo wrestler Kyokushuzan. Through this connection, he was recruited by the former sekiwake Tamanofuji and joined Kataonami stable in January 2004.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his debut under the shikona "Tamawashi" (玉鷲) in January 2004. Tamawashi had a fairly good start, where he suffered only one losing record before reaching the competitive makushita divison in July 2005.

Tamawashi remained in makushita for around three years where he produced mixed results. It was not until September 2007, where Tamawashi won all seven matches and took the makushita yusho. As a result, he was promoted all the way up to makushita 2 for the November 2007 tournament. In this tournament he defeated juryo-ranked wrestler Jumonji on the twelfth day to finish with a 4-3 record and a promotion to the salaried juryo division for the January 2008 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

Tamawashi adapted well to the juryo environment and posted an impressive 10-5 record in his juryo debut. In the following tournament, Tamawashi got off to a bad start where he was 3-6 by the ninth day, but ended up winning the next six bouts to finish with a strong 9-6 record. He followed this with an 8-7 and another 9-6 record to earn promotion to the top makuuchi division for the September 2008 tournament.

### **Makuuchi Career**

A 4–11 record sent him back to juryo but a 10–5 score in November returned him immediately to makuuchi. His first winning score in the top division in March 2009 saw him at his highest rank to date of maegashira 8 in the May 2009 tournament. However, he could only manage a 5–10 score at maegashira 11 in July, and was demoted back to juryo, replaced by Masatsukasa. However, he responded by taking the juryo championship with an 11–4 record in September, which returned him immediately to the top division. In the November 2009 tournament he produced his best top division score so far of 10–5, which saw him promoted to maegashira 7 for the January 2010 tourney. Another kachi-koshi score of 8–7 saw him promoted to a new highest rank of maegashira 4. He was however unable to defeat any of his san'yaku opponents and had slipped back to maegashira 14 by July 2010. He responded with scores of 10–5 and 9–6 in the next two tournaments, earning him promotion to maegashira 3.

Tamawashi defeated Harumafuji in the January 2011 tournament, his first victory over an ozeki, but finished with a 5–10 record. The tournament ended on an embarrassing note for him when he injured his right arm by leaning against and breaking the window of a restaurant in Tokyo. He had been on a night out drinking following the final day's action, and was given a stiff warning by the Sumo Association. The injury did not affect his participation in the next tournament, which did not take place until May. However, after recording four consecutive make-koshi he dropped down to juryo in January 2012. He made an immediate return to makuuchi for the March tournament, but fell back to juryo on two further occasions, in September 2012 and May 2013. For the next few years he managed enough wins in tournaments to remain a fixture in the middle ranks of makuuchi.

In March 2015 he somewhat fortuitously won promotion to the san'yaku ranks for the first time, going straight to komusubi from the relatively low rank of maegashira 9 after most of the wrestlers above him made losing scores. It took him 38 tournaments from his top division debut to reach san'yaku, the slowest ever for a foreign-born wrestler. He was unable to hold on to the rank for more than a single tournament, but In May 2015 he earned his first gold star or kinboshi for an upset of a yokozuna, defeating Harumafuji. (He was also the slowest to earn a kinboshi among foreign-born wrestlers.) 2015 was the first year in his top division career that he was ranked above maegashira 10 for the whole year.

Tamawashi returned to the komusubi rank in November 2016 and produced a career-best performance as he recorded ten wins including another victory over Harumafuji and wins over three of the four ozeki. He was rewarded with his first special prize for Technique, becoming the first wrestler since Asashoryu in 2001 to win his first special prize while ranked in san'yaku and was promoted to a career-high rank of sekiwake. The 77 career tournaments it took him to reach sekiwake is the fifth-slowest in sumo history. He is the first sekiwake from Kataonami stable since Tamanoshima in January 2004, and the first produced by the current stablemaster, the former Tamakasuga, since he took over in February 2010. Tamawashi had a winning record in his sekiwake debut and held the rank for 4 tournaments. Having never missed a bout in his career, in May 2017 he fought his 1,000th consecutive career match. Talk of a possible ozeki promotion ended in July: despite defeating all three active ozeki (Terunofuji, Goeido and Takayasu) a number of losses to lower ranked opponents saw him end with a 7–8 record. Tamawashi lost san'yaku status after another 7–8 at komusubi in September, but in the Kyushu tournament he was one of four runners-up with an 11–4 record at maegashira 1. He returned to sekiwake in January 2018 but was demoted after one tournament. However, he returned to the san'yaku ranks in July. On the final day of the tournament Tamawashi caught up to Yoshiazuma and will going forward hold the record for most consecutive matches by an active wrestler. The record was duly passed in September but a poor 4–11 score saw him drop back to the maegashira ranks. He rebounded with a 9–6 in November and began the 2019 campaign back at sekiwake.

In January 2019 Tamawashi made a solid start with three wins in his first five matches before embarking on an impressive winning streak. Having already defeated the three ozeki he took a share of lead by beating Hakuho on day 12. This was his first victory over Hakuho at his 14th attempt. He began the final day one win ahead of Takakeisho and secured his first top-division championship with a tsukiotoshi win over Endo. At 34 he became the second oldest first time yusho winner since the six tournaments per year system was established in 1958, after Kyokutenho in 2012. On the day after his victory Tamawashi said "I still can’t believe it. I now believe that dreams really can come true. I want to keep going even in my 40s. If I take it one match at a time, the results will come". Tamawashi lost his sekiwake rank after recording only five wins against ten losses in the following tournament, but a 10–5 record from maegashira 3 in May, which included a kinboshi over Kakuryu, returned him immediately to sekiwake for the July 2019 tournament. However, as in March he could only score 5–10 at this rank. He has not managed to return to sanyaku since then, and by May 2021 he had fallen to maegashira 10, his lowest rank since 2016.

Since the retirement of Kotoshogiku in November 2020 he has been the oldest man in the top division. In May 2022 he overtook Takamiyama to reach fourth place on the all-time list of consecutive career bouts with 1426.

Tamawashi's consecutive match streak reached 1448 matches before he was forced to withdraw from the July 2022 tournament on Day 13 due to a COVID-19 infection at Tamanoi stable. However, the Sumo Association did not regard an enforced quarantine as breaking a run of consecutive appearances as it is through no fault of the wrestler, and so Tamawashi was allowed to continue his streak in the following September tournament. In that tournament he reached 1457 consecutive matches, passing former sekiwake Takatoriki for third on the all-time list.

In 2022 Tamawashi earned three consecutive kinboshi by defeating yokozuna Terunofuji in the January, March and May tournaments. Tamawashi is the first wrestler to earn a kinboshi against the same yokozuna in three straight tournaments since Wakamisugi pulled off the feat in 1965. Tamawashi's win in January ended Terunofuji's 23-bout winning streak, while his victory in March on Day 5 would end up being Terunofuji's final contest of the tournament before pulling out. After he was beaten by the yokozuna in July, Tamawashi defeated Terunofuji again in September for his fourth kinboshi of the year, on his way to a 13-2 tournament victory, becoming the oldest to win the top division in the modern era, at the age of 37 years and 10 months. For the November 2022 tournament Tamawashi was promoted back to sanyaku for the first time since 2019, becoming at 37 year and 11 months the oldest wrestler to achieve this since Takamiyama in 1982. During his day 9 bout against Ura, Tamawashi used the extremely rare gasshohineri kimarite, a move not seen in the top division since 1965. He finished that tournament with a 6-9 record and was subsequently demoted to maegashira 2 in the 2023 January rankings.

At the 2023 January tournament Tamawashi achieved a 9-6 winning record. In September of the same year, Tamawashi made his 1543rd consecutive appearance in a tournament, making him the second wrestler in history to have the most uninterrupted appearances in competition, tied with Fujizakura. On this occasion, the latter declared that, like Tamawashi, he was a wrestler who relied more on thrusting techniques, which he felt were less dangerous and therefore favored longevity in the ring.

## **Personal Life**

* Tamawashi married a fellow Mongolian in 2012. His second child was born in January 2019, on the same day as his tournament championship was confirmed.
* Tamawashi is a talented baker, known for his cakes and cookies. His favorite food is vegetable tempura.
* Tamawashi considers Toyohibiki to be his biggest rival and they both share the exact same birthday of November 16th, 1984.
* Former Chairman of the JSA, Kitanoumi, predicted that Tamawashi would become much stronger and win a yusho. He passed away in 2015 when Tamawashi was still a rank-in-file makuuchi wrestler, however, he has lived up to the expectations placed on him by the former chairman.

## **Fighting Style**

Unusually for a Mongolian wrestler Tamawashi is an oshi-sumo specialist, who prefers pushing and thrusting techniques. His most common winning kimarite is overwhelmingly oshidashi (push out), which accounts for half his career wins. He is also known for his dangerous kotenage (armlock throw) which has injured many sumo wrestlers in the past. He is not comfortable fighting on the mawashi, winning only around 5 percent of his matches by yorikiri (force out) in his career to date (the average is 25 percent).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 792-777-2/1568 (118 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 609-664-2/1272 (85 basho)
* **Juryo:** 86-49/135 (9 basho)
* **Makushita:** 55-43/98 (14 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 22-13/35 (5 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 16-5/21 (3 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 4-3/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 2 **Makuuchi** Championships
	+ 1st (January 2019)
	+ 2nd (September 2022)

* 1 **Juryo** Championship (September 2009)
* 1 **Makushita** Championship (September 2007)

### **Achievements**

* **Special Prizes:** Fighting Spirit Prize (1), Outstanding Performance Prize (2), Technique Prize (1)
* **Kinboshi:** 7: (4) Terunofuji, (1) Harumafuji, (1) Kakuryu, (1) Kisenosato
* **Record:** 6th Most consecutive career bouts (1361)
* **Record:** Oldest Makuuchi Championship winner in the Modern Era (37 years and 10 months)

## **Gallery**

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

Tamawashi Ichiro - 2023 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tamawashi Ichiro - 2022 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tamawashi Ichiro - 2019 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tamawashi Ichiro - 2018 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tamawashi Ichiro - 2017 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tamawashi Ichiro - 2016 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tamawashi Ichiro - 2015 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tamawashi Ichiro - 2014 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tamawashi Ichiro - 2013 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tamawashi Ichiro - 2012 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tamawashi Ichiro - 2012 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tamawashi Ichiro - 2008 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tamawashi Ichiro - 2008 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tamawashi's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Tamawashi joins alongside fellow Mongolian Maenoyu (c. 2004)Tamawashi after promotion to Juryo (c. 2007)Tamawashi after promotion to Makuuchi (c. 2008)Tamawashi pushes out Wakakirin (c. 2009)Tamawashi defeats Kimurayama (c. 2010)Tamawashi during the Makuuchi dohyo-iri (c. 2011)Tamawashi throws and defeats Chiyonokuni (c. 2012)Tamawashi pushes out Tokitenku (c. 2013)Tamawashi pushes out Toyonoshima (c. 2014)Tamawashi with his stablemate Tamaasuka (c. 2014)Tamawashi after promotion to Komusubi (c. 2015)Tamawashi defeats Yokozuna Harumafuji (c. 2015)Tamawashi pushes out Chiyoshoma (c. 2016)Tamawashi with his first of many sansho prizes (c. 2016)Tamawashi after promotion to Sekiwake (c. 2016)Tamawashi defeats Yokozuna Kisenosato (c. 2017)Tamawashi defeats Yokozuna Kakuryu (c. 2018)Tamawashi defeats Yokozuna Hakuho (c. 2019)Tamawashi defeats Endo to win his first Yusho (c. 2019)Tamawashi wins his first Yusho (c. 2019)Tamawashi celebrates his first Yusho (c. 2019)Tamawashi's first Yusho parade (c. 2019)Tamawashi presented with his Yusho portrait (c. 2019)Tamawashi defeats Terutsuyoshi (c. 2020)Tamawashi defeats Ozeki Takakeisho (c. 2021)Tamawashi defeats Yokozuna Terunofuji (c. 2022)Tamawashi defeats Takayasu to win his second Yusho (c. 2022)Tamawashi wins his second Yusho (c. 2022)Tamawashi's second Yusho parade (c. 2022)Tamawashi prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2023)Tamawashi defeats Wakatakakage (c. 2023)

## **Sources**

* Tamawashi Ichiro Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Tamawashi Ichiro Rikishi Information