Aran Hakutora

Aran Hakutora - 阿覧 欧虎 (born January 31, 1984) is a former Russian professional sumo wrestler from Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia–Alania. He made his debut in January 2007 and wrestled for Mihogaseki stable. He reached the makuuchi division in November 2008 and has two special prizes. His highest rank was sekiwake and he retired in October 2013.

## **Early Life**

Gabaraev was born in Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia–Alania, RSFSR, USSR, the same area as Roho and Hakurozan. He began as an amateur wrestler, winning the Russian National Junior Championships. Later, at the World Championships in Holland, he also came second.

Hoping to gain a foothold in professional sports, Gabaraev lived in the Netherlands for several years. However, little success was achieved. To earn a living, he was forced to work as a butcher in a slaughterhouse, where he dragged huge bull carcasses, not suspecting that this would help to take third place at the World Championships in Japan. In October 2006 he won the open division of the World Amateur Sumo Championships held in Saitama, Japan, defeating Ichihara. In December of that year, he joined Mihogaseki stable. Sumo rules allow only one foreigner per stable, and the departure of Baruto to the newly formed Onoe stable created an opening for him. His new shikona, Aran, was a direct translation of his name Alan. Hakutora, his last name means European tiger.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Aran made his debut in January 2007. Although he lost 2 out 5 matches in maezumo, he bounced back and took the jonokuchi yusho in the following tournament with a perfect 7-0 record. He breezed through the jonidan division and the sandanme division earning 6-1 records and 5-2 records respectively. In January 2008, he ended Tosayutaka's 30 bout winning streak. He continued to shoot up the ranking and never produced a losing record. He was ranked makushita 2 in the May 2008 tournament and earned a 5-2 record which was good enough for promotion to the juryo division.

### **Juryo Career**

Aran was the fourth Russian wrestler to get promoted to sekitori status, however 3 of them had to leave due to the cannabis scandal, so he was the only Russian sekitori left. In his first tournament in juryo, he achieved double digit wins with a 10-5 record. The following tournament he took the juryo championship after achieving a 12-3 record. This would guarantee him a slot in the makuuchi division. The 11 tournaments it took him to reach makuuchi from his professional debut equalled the all-time record held by Kotooshu, now broken by Jokoryu.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Until the January 2009 tournament, in which he scored only 5-10, Aran had maintained a winning record in every tournament in which he had participated. However, he responded two consecutive winning tournaments, which sent him up the banzuke to maegashira 1 for the July 2009 tournament in Nagoya. He defeated ozeki Harumafuji there but was able to win only three other bouts. After three tournaments out of the limelight, he returned to the upper maegashira ranks in the March 2010 tournament, but lost 14 of his 15 matches. However, he put this disastrous performance behind him by scoring 12–3 in May, finishing runner-up to yokozuna Hakuho and receiving a share of the Fighting Spirit prize, his first sansho award. He had another good tournament in July, winning eleven bouts from maegashira 2, defeating two ozeki and once again finishing runner-up with a share of the Kanto-sho. In the September 2010 tournament he made his san'yaku debut at sekiwake, becoming the first member of Mihogaseki stable to reach sumo's third highest rank since the current head coach, the former Masuiyama II, took over in 1984. He was in contention for an ozeki rank because he was a sekiwake and his previous two tournaments combined for 23 wins. Double-digit wins could secure a promotion to ozeki. However he fell short with a 7–8 record, his only notable victory coming against the aging ozeki Kaio on the final day. He stayed in the san'yaku ranks at komusubi but could score only 4–11 in July. In January 2011 he beat ozeki Baruto but finished on 5-10, and his 6–9 mark in May, despite a win over Kotooshu, was his fourth consecutive losing score. He returned to form in July 2011, scoring 10-5 which led to his return to the komusubi rank. However, he had a losing 5–10 record in September 2011 which dropped him to the maegashira ranks for November, and he remained a maegashira throughout 2012.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Though still at a comfortable rank of maegashira 7 in the September 2013 tournament, he chose to retire after posting a 3–12 record where he lost the last nine bouts. His Mihogaseki stable was folding and being absorbed into Kasugano stable, and rather than fight for a new stable, he chose to retire on October 3 of that year. At a press conference he said that his physical condition was bad due to treatment for oral cancer and that he had been thinking about retirement for a year and a half.

At his own request he quickly had a private danpatsu-shiki or retirement ceremony for close relatives only, which is unusual for a former sekiwake, and returned to Russia to enter the hotel management business. After that he hopes to become a businessman. As of 2018, he is also a coach at the Russian Sumo Federation.

## **Personal Life**

* In January 2009 he announced his marriage, to a fellow Russian, although the couple had in fact wed in June 2008. They have two sons.
* In January 2010 he revealed that in December 2008 he had undergone treatment for mouth cancer. The operation to remove the malignant tumour was a success, but caused him to drop 20 kilos in weight.
* Aran's hobbies include surfing the internet. His favorite food is curry bread and he dislikes cucumber.
* Due to his immensely fast rise to makuuchi, he was the subject of many interviews. When he reached juryo, he understood the reporter's question, but his Japanese skills weren't good enough to reply. Aran also stated that he failed his graduation exam when he was attending sumo school. However his Japanese skills gradually increased.

## **Fighting Style**

Aran's favored techniques as listed with the Japan Sumo Association were migi-yotsu (a left hand outside, right hand inside grip on his opponent's mawashi), yori (grappling) and oshi (pushing). He was criticised for not moving forward enough during his bouts and for relying heavily on henka (side-stepping) and slap down techniques. Approximately one third of his wins were by hataki-komi (slap down), a much higher figure than most other wrestlers.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 263-258/521 (40 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 196-239/435 (29 basho)
* **Juryo:** 22-8/30 (2 basho)
* **Makushita:** 21-7/28 (4 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 11-3/14 (2 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 7-0/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Juryo** Championship (September, 2008)
* 1 **Jonokuchi** Championship (March, 2007)

### **Achievements**

* **Special Prizes:** Fighting Spirt Prize (2)
* **Records:** Tied for **4th**: Fastest progress to top division (11)
* **1st** Russian to reach Sekiwake

## **Gallery**

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

Aran Hakutora - 2012 (Retrieved from the JSA)Aran Hakutora - 2012 (Retrieved from the JSA)Aran Hakutora - 2008 (Retrieved from the JSA)Aran's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Aran joins sumo alongside Tenkaiho and Yamamotoyama (c. 2007)Aran battles Yamamotoyama in Maezumo (c. 2007)Aran during his time in the unsalaried ranks (c. 2007)Aran after ensuring promotion to Juryo (c. 2008)Aran after promotion to Juryo (c. 2008)Aran comments on Wakanoho's dismissal (c. 2008)Aran defeats Tosayutaka in Juryo (c. 2008)Aran after promotion to Makuuchi (c. 2008)Aran defeats former Ozeki Dejima (c. 2008)Aran defeats future Yokozuna Harumafuji (c. 2009)Aran prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2010)Aran pushes out and defeats ozeki Baruto (c. 2010)Aran with his first of many sansho prizes (c. 2010)Aran after promotion to Sekiwake (c. 2010)Aran lifts and defeats Ozeki Baruto (c. 2011)Aran battles future Yokozuna Harumafuji (c. 2012)Aran defeats future Ozeki Takayasu (c. 2013)Aran announces his retirement (c. 2013)

## **Sources**

* Aran Hakutora Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Aran Hakutora Rikishi Information