Hoshihikari Shinichi

Hoshihikari Shinichi - 保志光 信一 (born July 25, 1984) is a former Mongolian professional sumo wrestler from Ulaanbaatar. He made his debut in November 2000 and wrestled for Hakkaku stable. He reached the juryo division in July 2007. His highest rank was juryo 1 and he retired in May 2011.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Lkhagvaa Duvchin arrived to Japan in October 2000 with stablemate Myagmar Altangerel (Hoshizakura) and made his professional debut in November 2000. He wrestled under the shikona "Hoshihikari" (保志光). Even though he had a light frame of only 85 kg (187 Ib), he was able to breeze through jonidan and was promoted to sandanme in November 2001. Two years later he was promoted to makushita in November 2003.

He quickly established himself in makushita and started to climb up the rankings. However, an injury in March 2006 forced Hoshihikari to sit out of three consecutive tournaments which plummeted him down to the lower tier of sandanme. Nonetheless, he returned back to makushita in two tournaments. On March 2007, Hoshihikari took the makushita yusho with a perfect 7-0 record which sent him to the top of makushita for May. In this tournaments, Hoshihikari defeated juryo-ranked Kyokunankai on the last day with a sukuinage (beltless arm throw) which earned him his fourth win and a promotion to juryo.

### **Juryo Career**

Upon his promotion to juryo, Hoshihikari weighed 106 kg (234 Ib) which made him the lightest sekitori at the time. Even though he was the lightest wrestler on the dohyo, Hoshihikari produced four straight winning records and was promoted to the top of juryo by March 2008. However, he could only manage five wins in this tournament.

In the November 2008 tournament he was warned by the sumo association after he fought in a "lethargic" manner against Wakatenro. Many fans speculated yaocho due to his unmotivated performance, but Hoshihikari's stablemaster claimed that he was feeling "unwell". He remained in juryo for another four tournaments before falling back down to makushita in September 2009.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Hoshihikari was one of 23 wrestlers found guilty of fixing the result of bouts after an investigation by the Japan Sumo Association and he was forced to retire in April 2011.

Hoshihikari currently lived in Australia and works for the Australian Sumo Federation. He is good friends with Yokozuna Hakuho and regularly sends contestants from Australia to participate in the Hakuho Cup.

## **Personal Life**

Hoshihikari has a gentle personality and was well-liked by many of his peers and sumo fans. Him and Hakuho were childhood friends and still maintain a close relationship.

### **Family**

Hoshihikari came from a very athletic background. His father, Zevegiin Duvchin was an accomplished freestyle wrestler and he participated in the 1976, 1980, and 1988 Summer Olympics. As of 2014, he currently works as a coach for the Mongolian national women's freestyle wrestling team. Hoshihikari's mother was a volleyball player and was a member of the national team. Hoshihikari's uncle, Zevegiin Oidov was also a freestyle wrestler and won the silver medal in the 1976 Summer Olympics.

## **Fighting Style**

Hoshihikari was a yotsu-sumo specialist, and in a grappling position preferred a migi-yotsu grip on the mawashi, with his left hand outside and right hand inside his opponent's arms. His most common winning kimarite was a straightforward yorikiri or force out. He was also fond of employing uwatenage (overarm throw) and shitatenage (underarm throw).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 278-237-16/514 (62 basho)
* **Juryo:** 92-103/195 (13 basho)
* **Makushita:** 93-73-9/165 (25 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 53-38-7/91 (14 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 35-21/56 (8 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 5-2/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makushita** Championship (March 2007)

## **Shikona History**

* Hoshihikari Shinichi (2000.11 - 2011.05)

## **Gallery**

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

Hoshihikari Shinichi - 2007 (Retrieved from the JSA)Hoshihikari's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Hoshihikari after promotion to Juryo (c. 2007)Hoshihikari serves as Yokozuna Asashoryu's flag bearer (c. 2007)Hoshihikari defeats Bushuyama (c. 2008)Hoshihikari during the juryo dohyo-iriHoshihikari battles Otsukasa (c. 2008)Hoshihikari after being found guilty of match-fixing (c. 2011)

## **Sources**

* Hoshihikari Shinichi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Hoshihikari Shinichi Rikishi Information