Koryu Yasuhiro

Koryu Yasuhiro - 港龍 安啓 (born September 12, 1961) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Komatsushima, Tokushima. He made his debut in March 1977 and last wrestled for Miyagino stable. He reached the makuuchi division in July 1986. His highest rank was maegashira 4 and he retired in January 1988.

## **Early Life**

Sawahara began sumo wrestling during his time at Komatsushima Junior High School, and during his first and second years at the school, he won the individual competitions at the Tokushima Prefectural Tournament. Furthermore, he played an active role in the team competitions as well. Upon graduating junior high school, he moved to Tokyo and was recruited into Miyagino stable.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Sawahara made his professional debut in March 1977 and he was given the shikona "Koryu" (港龍). He was promoted to sandanme in May 1978 and makushita in January 1980. After three years in makushita, Koryu was promoted to juryo in September 1983 after a 5-2 record at the rank of makushita 5 in the previous July tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

Koryu only managed 3 wins in his sekitori debut and he was demoted back down to makushita. He returned to juryo in July 1984, but posted another 3-12 record and fell back down to makushita. He returned to juryo for the third time in January 1985 where he began to produce more solid results. After a run of consistent results (7 winning records out of 8 tournament from 1985-1986), Koryu was promoted to makuuchi in July 1986.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Koryu produced two consecutive 8-7 records from his debut and was promoted to the rank of maegashira 4 by his third makuuchi tournament. However, he could only manage 6 wins at this rank.

He sat out of the March 1987 tournament due to a herniated disc. After the tournament, he had an operation on his lower back and subsequently withdrew from more tournaments. However, back pain prevented Koryu from ever returning to the dohyo, and after sitting out of six consecutive tournaments which resulted in a fall back down to the rank of sandanme 93, he announced his retirement after the January 1988 tournament.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

After retiring, Koryu opened up a chankonabe restaurant in 1988, called "Chanko Koryu" (ちゃんこ港龍) in his hometown of Komatsushima, Tokushima. In 2006, he moved the restaurant's location to Tokushima City, but the restaurant later closed down. However, he re-opened a restaurant of the same name in Takamatsu, Kagawa.

## **Fighting Style**

Koryu was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. He favored a migi-yotsu (left hand outside, right hand inside) position when gripping his opponent's mawashi (belt). His most common kimarite was yorikiri, or force out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 284-249-58/533 (66 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 29-31-15/60 (5 basho)
* **Juryo:** 79-86-15/165 (12 basho)
* **Makushita:** 108-81-14/189 (29 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 33-30-14/63 (11 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 30-19/49 (7 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 5-2/7 (1 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Sawahara Yasuhiro (1977.03 - 1977.09)
* Koryu Yasuhiro (1977.11 - 1988.01)

## **Gallery**

Koryu poses with his kesho-mawashi (c. 1986)Koryu's akeni box
## **Sources**

* Koryu Yasuhiro Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Koryu Yasuhiro Rikishi Information