Sadanoumi Takashi

Sadanoumi Takashi - 佐田の海 貴士 (born May 11, 1987) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kumamoto City, Kumamoto. He made his debut in March 2003 and currently wrestles for Sakaigawa stable. He reached the makuuchi division in May 2014 and has two special prizes as well as one kinboshi. His highest rank as of 2023 is maegashira 1.

## **Early Life**

Matsumura was born the oldest son of the sumo star also known as Sadanoumi who was active in the 1980s, who reached the rank of komusubi and was well known for his swift sumo technique.

Matsumura aspired from a young age to become a sumo wrestler, however, he devoted himself to baseball at Joto Junior High School in Osaka, Japan, and had no experience with sumo at the junior high school level. Matsumura was also a devoted student and received exceptional grades, however, his father did not stress on academics. After graduating from junior high school in the spring of 2003, he joined Sakaigawa stable which was founded by former komusubi Ryogoku who had himself been a protege of the senior Sadanoumi.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Matsumura made his professional sumo debut in March 2003 under his family name. He first struggled due to his light weight of 85 kg and even produced a losing record in his first tournament. From the January 2004 tournament, he took the shikona surname of his father.

He would spend two years in jonidan and as his weight increased he began to produce better results. Sadanoumi was promoted to sandanme in March 2005 and remained there for around three years. In November 2007, Sadanoumi won all seven matches and took the division yusho. As a result he was boosted to the upper-half of makushita at the rank of makushita 27.

In his makushita debut he scored a 4-3 and was boosted to the rank of makushita 20 for the March 2008 tournament. He would remain in the mid-level makushita ranks for around two years and in January 2010 he won the makushita yusho. As a result he was promoted to the highly competitive rank of makushita 2. Even though he defeated juryo-rank wrestler Shirononami in this tournament, he still finished with a 3-4 record and as a result was demoted down to makushita 5. In this tournament he produced a strong 5-2 record and was promoted to the juryo division for the July 2010 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

Sadanoumi was the first second-generation sekitori in 14 years since father and son Tochiazuma Tomoyori and Tochiazuma Daisuke. In his juryo debut he produced a 9-6 record and was promoted to juryo 5. In this tournament he struggled and produced a 6-9 record. After four more losing records, Sadanoumi was demoted to juryo 9 for the November 2011 tournament. In this tournament he pulled out due to a dislocated ankle and as a result was demoted from the juryo division.

As before he began to struggle again in makushita and would remain there for twelve tournaments before working his way back up and finally re-entering juryo in January 2014. This time around he found his stride quickly and was able to rise through juryo in only two tournaments with two strong performances. He was promoted to the top division makuuchi in May 2014.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Sadanoumi made a splash in his top division debut, earning a 10–5 record and the Fighting Spirit prize. Sumo historians noted that Sadanoumi had repeated his father's same impressive achievement of earning the Fighting Spirit prize in his makuuchi debut 34 years earlier in 1980. This was the first such repeat in the history of sumo.

He first fought all the top wrestlers ranked at maegashira #2 in the March 2015 tournament and posted a respectable 7–8 score that kept him ranked high enough to face all the top competition in the following tournament, where he scored his first kinboshi for defeating a yokozuna Harumafuji and posted a winning record of 8–7, also beating the eventual tournament champion, Terunofuji. He was nominated for the Outstanding Performance Prize, normally given to those who beat the tournament champion or a yokozuna and manage a winning record, but there was opposition since he posted a bare minimum winning record with one win by default and the prize was not awarded. Nonetheless he was promoted to his highest rank to date of maegashira 1 for the July 2015 tournament. Since then his results have been disappointing and he slid down the maegashira ranks with seven consecutive make-koshi or losing scores from July 2015 to July 2016. He was able to get a winning record in September 2016 with an 8–7, however he got another losing record in the November 2016 tournament, scoring only 3–12 which was his worst record to date in the top division. He followed with an 8-7 record in January 2017.

He was demoted to the juryo division after the March 2017 tournament, breaking a run of 18 straight tournaments at a maegashira rank, the longest amongst active wrestlers. However, a 9–6 record at the rank of juryo 1 East was enough for an immediate return to the top division. He missed the first five days of the September 2017 tournament because of an injury to his right leg, and although he entered from Day 6, he could not prevent demotion to juryo. In March 2018 he won the juryo division championship with an 11–4 record, beating Akiseyama in a playoff, to ensure his return to makuuchi. He has remained in the low maegashira ranks as of 2020. Despite never rising higher than maegashira 8 he remained in the top division until January 2021, but finally fell back to juryo' in March 2021. He returned to makuuchi in November 2021. In May 2022 he scored eleven wins against four losses to share runner-up honors alongside Takanosho and Daieisho, and received his second Fighting Spirit Prize and first since 2014. In November 2022, Sadanoumi won his match against ozeki Shodai. This match was the first time in three years that the two Kumamoto natives faced each other.

In October 2023, Sadanoumi is the current or former sekitori wrestler with the most tournaments to his name, with 122 since his professional debut in 2003. On this subject he regularly jokes with Tamawashi, who has tallied 117 tournaments since his debut in 2004 and is the oldest active sekitori (at 38); the two debating who is the other's senior.

## **Personal Life**

* For a few tournaments after his makuuchi debut, when he appeared in the ring entering ceremony, Sadanoumi wore a kesho-mawashi with the official Kumamoto prefectural mascot Kumamon on it to promote his home prefecture.
* Sadanoumi has a chronic disease of the cornea which severely limits his vision. In order to avoid risky surgery he wears special hard contacts every night that dramatically improve his vision for the following day.
* Sadanoumi's father was a sumo star also known as Sadanoumi who was active in the 1980s, who reached the rank of komusubi and was well known for his swift sumo technique.
* Sadanoumi was married in June 2017 to a nurse who lives nearby his heya, after a five year relationship. Around 600 guests attended their wedding ceremony. Their first child is expected in January 2018.
* Sadanoumi is a big fan of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows which is a professional baseball team based in Shinjuku, Tokyo.
* Sadanoumi's hobbies include listening to music and going on walks.

## **Fighting Style**

Sadanoumi is a yotsu-zumo wrestler who prefers grappling techniques to pushing or thrusting. His favored grip on his opponent's mawashi or belt is migi-yotsu, a left hand outside, right hand inside position. His most common winning kimarite is yori-kiri, a straightforward force out, which accounts for around 40 per cent of his victories. He is also fond of uwate-nage (overarm throw).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 683-685-22/1368 (123 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 344-386-5/730 (49 basho)
* **Juryo:** 134-121-15/255 (18 basho)
* **Makushita:** 102-85-2/187 (27 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 62-57/119 (17 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 29-27/56 (8 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 12-9/21 (3 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Juryo** Championship (November 2007)
* 1 **Makushita** Championship (January 2010)
* 1 **Sandanme** Championship (March 2018)

### **Achievements**

* **Special Prizes:** Fighting Spirit Prize (2)
* **Kinboshi:** (1) Harumafuji

## **Shikona History**

* Matsumura Kaname (2003.03 - 2003.11)
* Sadanoumi Kaname (2004.01 - 2013.05)
* Sadanoumi Takashi (2013.07 - )

## **Gallery**

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

Sadanoumi Takashi - 2023 (Retrieved from the JSA)Sadanoumi Takashi - 2022 (Retrieved from the JSA)Sadanoumi Takashi - 2019 (Retrieved from the JSA)Sadanoumi Takashi - 2018 (Retrieved from the JSA)Sadanoumi Takashi - 2017 (Retrieved from the JSA)Sadanoumi Takashi - 2016 (Retrieved from the JSA)Sadanoumi Takashi - 2015 (Retrieved from the JSA)Sadanoumi Takashi - 2014 (Retrieved from the JSA)Sadanoumi Takashi - 2014 (Retrieved from the JSA)Sadanoumi Kaname - 2011 (Retrieved from the JSA)Sadanoumi's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Sadanoumi wins a match in Maezumo (c. 2003)Sadanoumi after promotion to Juryo (c. 2010)Sadanoumi visits his hometown after Juryo promotion (c. 2010)Sadanoumi defeats Yamamotoyama (c. 2010)Sadanoumi battles Takanoyama (c. 2011)Sadanoumi after promotion to Makuuchi (c. 2014)Sadanoumi presented with his kesho-mawashi (c. 2014)Sadanoumi throws and defeats Okinoumi (c. 2014)Sadanoumi with his first of many sansho prizes (c. 2014)Sadanoumi defeats Yokozuna Harumafuji (c. 2015)Sadanoumi defeats future Ozeki Shodai (c. 2016)Sadanoumi defeats Chiyoo (c. 2017)Sadanoumi defeats Akiseyama to win the Juryo Yusho (c. 2018)Sadanoumi wins his first Juryo Yusho (c. 2018)Sadanoumi prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2018)Sadanoumi defeats Enho (c. 2019)Sadanoumi defeats Kaisei (c. 2020)Sadanoumi defeats former Ozeki Tochinoshin (c. 2021)Sadanoumi defeats Takanosho (c. 2022)Sadanoumi defeats Wakatakakage (c. 2023)
## **Sources**

* Sadanoumi Takashi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Sadanoumi Takashi Rikishi Information