Ryūō Noboru
Ryūō Noboru (born March 11, 1983 as Erkhem-Ochiryn Sanchirbold, ) is a former professional sumo wrestler from Ulan-Bator, Mongolia. His highest rank was "maegashira" 8. Career. He joined sumo in March 2000, shortly before his 17th birthday, making him young by the standards of most foreign recruits. He took part in a seven way play-off for the title in the third "makushita" division in January 2003, but his progress was slowed by a neck injury that forced him to sit out the November 2003 tournament. After a year of steady progress he won promotion to the  second highest "jūryō" division in July 2006. He entered the top "makuuchi" division in May 2007, producing a 10-5 record at "maegashira" 14. However he could manage only five wins in the next tournament and was demoted back to the second division after a 3-12 score in September 2007. An 8-7 mark at the rank of "jūryō" 2 in January 2008 was enough to return him to the top division but he could not manage a winning score and so was demoted once again. In May 2008 he turned in a disappointing 5-10 score at "jūryō  5. In July he recovered from a poor 1-6 start to finish 8-7. However a 4-11 mark at jūryō" 10 in November 2008 saw him fall back to the unsalaried "makushita" division for the January 2009 tournament. He withdrew from that tournament with an injury after recording only one win and two losses, and produced another losing score of 3-4 in March 2009. For the rest of his career, he remained firmly stuck in the mid-to-lower "makushita" ranks, without even coming close to a return to "jūryō". Ryūō was from the same stable as  yokozuna Hakuhō, and as he was the only other wrestler with "sekitori" experience in the stable, he was Hakuhō's main training partner. After losing "sekitori" status he also served as the "yokozuna"'s personal attendant or "tsukebito". In September 2010 he was rebuked by the Japan Sumo Association for visiting the locker room of Hakuhō's opponent, Aran, prior to the match. Retirement from sumo. Ryūō retired from sumo in July 2013. His "danpatsu-shiki" was held on September 1, 2013. He was presented with a specially-made “kantosho” trophy by Hakuhõ to make up for the fact that  he missed out on the Fighting Spirit Award in his top division debut despite ten wins. He has maintained his connection with Hakuhō by working as his personal manager, and marrying the daughter of Hakuhō’s aunt. Fighting style. Unlike most of his Mongolian compatriots, Ryūō specialised in pushing rather than throwing techniques and he was noted for his strong "tachi-ai", or opening charge at the beginning of matches. Like many pusher-thrusters, however, he was vulnerable to throws by opponents more skilled on the "mawashi" if he was unable to win in the first few seconds. Career record