Featured Rikishi! April 2008 - Goeido

[sekihiryu 51]

Goeido!

Edited April 3, 2008 by sekihiryu

[sekihiryu 51]

After searching the forum. I found a lot of stuff on him, lots of very insightful and detailed observations by Kaikitsune Makoto, excellent work. I have collated it all in this thread, where in can be enjoyed by all in one location and catalogued for prosperity.

Jonosuke also contributed with some excellent posts.

database stats

Birth name Gōtarō Sawai

Date of birth April 6, 1986 (age 21)

Place of birth Neyagawa, Osaka, Japan

Height 1.84 m

Weight 144 kg

2004 High School Sumo Tournaments Results

=============================

1. February 8 - 18th All Japan High School Sumo Hirosaki Open

At the Budokan, Prefecture of Aomori

Group:

1. Saitama Sakae (Sawai-Takayama-Sano)

2. Tottori Johoku (Takamura-Matsuda-Ito-Kimura)

3. Aomori Sanbongi Agricultural (Matsubayashi-Aisaka-Sato)

3. Aomori Goshogawara Commercial (Noro-Fujita-Sugiyama)

Individual:

1. Yuichiro Kageyama (Meitoku Gijuku)

2. Yu Kimura (Tottori Johoku)

3. Gotaro Sawai (Saitama Sakae)

4. Kazunori Takayama (Saitama Sakae)

Note: Kotomitsuki (Keiji Tamiya) graduated from Tottori Johoku High before going to Nihon University. Tamiya won High School Yokozuna in 1993.

Kimura was 178 cm tall and 150 kg this January and was among strong candidates to be a High School Yokozuna this year, won eventually by Sawai of Saitama Sakae.

All four have great potentials in Ozumo.

2. March 21 - 55th All Japan High School Rookie Championship

At Prefecture of Kouchi Haruno Sogo Undo Park

Group:

1. Saitama Sakae

2. Tottori Johoku

3. Meitoku Gijuku

3. Goshogawara Agricultural/Forestry

Individual:

1. Gotaro Sawai (Saitama Sakae)

2. Yu Kimura (Tottori Johoku)

3. Makoto Aoki (Meitoku Gijuku)

3. Yasunari Miyamoto (Saitama Sakae)

Note: I have no idea why they call this one "Rookie".

3. May 30 88th All Japan High School Kanazawa Open

At Prefecture of Ishikawa, Utatsuyama Sumo Grounds

Group:

1. Kanazawa City Engineering (Arakiseki-Sakaguchi-Nakano)

2. Saitama Sakae (Miyamoto-Sano-Takayama-Sawai)

3. Kiso Forestryi, Nagano (Yokoyama-Suzuki-Fujitani)

3. Meitoku Gijuku (Kageyama-Aoki-Tateno-Teramura)

4. August 2-4 82th All Japan High School Sumo Championships

At Prefecture of Yamaguchi, Town of Toyoura

Group:

1. Saitama Sakae (Takayama-Sano-Miyamoto-Okutani-Sawai)

2. Houtoku Gakuen, Hyogo (Shimosato-Lee Dai Won-Sato-Tamogami-Shimako)

3. Tottori Johoku

(Tomita-Takamura-Kimura-Kaneko-Ito-Matsuda-Otilupluv? a katakana name)

3. Kanazawa City Engineering

(K. Arakiseki-Terashita-Nakano-Y?Arakiseki-Nishihara-Sakaguchi-Tsuji)

Best Eight: Meitoku Gijuku, Kinki University High, AichiEngineering University Meiden High, Jutoku, Gunma Prefecture

Indivudual:

1. Gotaro Sakai (Saitama Sakae)

2. Yasunari Miyamoto (Saitama Sakae)

3. Kazunori Takayama (Saitama Sakae)

3. Kengo Arakiseki (Kanazawa City Engineering)

5. August 15 53rd High School Sumo Tournament Towada Open

At Prefecture of Aomori, Towada City Sumo Grounds

Group:

1. Saitama Sakae

2. Kanazawa City Engineering

3. Hotoku Gakuen

3. Aichi Engineering University Meiden High

Individual:

1. Gotaro Sawai (Saitama Sakae)

2. Kazunori Takayama (Saitama Sakae)

3. Kengo Arakiseki (Kanazawa City Engineering)

3. Ken? Shinoda (Meiji University Nakano High)

Note: Taka/Waka brothers and Tochiazuma are graduates of Meiji Nakano.

6. September 26 48th High School Sumo Championship Usa Open

At Prefecture of Oita, Usa City Sumo Grounds

Group:

1. Meitoku Gijuku (Kageyama-Aoki-Tateno)

2. Kanazawa City Engineering (Arakiseki-Nakano-Sakaguchi)

3. Sanbongi Agricultural (Sato-Aisaka-Iwasaki)

3. Saitama Sakae (Sano-Takayama-Sawai)

Individual:

1. Gotaro Sawai (Saitama Sakae)

2. Yuichiro Kageyama (Meitoku Gijuku)

3. Marvin Sano, Jr. (Saitama Sakae)

3. Takane (Sukumo High, Kochi Prefecture)

The following was a most excellent post by Jonosuke here in Dec 2004.

The 53rd All Japan Sumo Championship will be held at the Ryogoku Kokugikan on December 12. It is the stage to crown the year's top amateur rikishi in the country and this year we have the Tournament's only High School student vying for the top position.

Gotaro Sawai, 18, from Saitama Sakae High School, already captured the so-called High School Sumo Triple Crown - Spring Sumo Championship, All Japan All Sports Festival in summer and the Fall Sports Festival Group Youth Tournament.

Sawai won a total of 11 major national titles in his three years at the High School. Now he will be trying to become the second High School student ever to win the title since Keita Kushima (former Kushimaumi) from Wakayama Prefecture's Shingu High did it in 1983.

Gotaro Sawai was born in Neyagawa City, Osaka and started taking sumo lessons when he turned nine years old at a famed Furuichi Dojyo (run by Makushita Furuichi's father) in Katano City. Two years later he won All Japan "Wanpaku Sumo" Tournament for Elementary School students but he never made it to any national level tournament while he was in Middle School as he could not gain enough weight. "I was regularly attending the practices at the dojo but since I couldn't win at all I really did not work out harder," Sawai said.

When he was wondering about his future plan after graduating from the Middle School, he got a call from Manager of Saitama Sakae Sumo Club Michinori Yamada, 38, who recognized Sawai's potential since he saw him at All Wanpaku Sumo Tournament years ago and invited him to join them. Sawai took the offer and decided to go to Saitama Sakae. Sawai was taken into the school sumo club's dormitory by Yamada and his wife while he continued his high school studies at the

Saitama Sakae.

Manager Yamada encouraged him to learn a rapid sumo style by charging straight from tachiai and then take the right and then get the left uwate to take advantage of his speed as he could run 50 meters in 7 seconds. He kept practicing Chiyonofuji style hard hitting head first technique daily. "He always had a great hidden ability so once we got him to get motivated, his progress was quick," Yamada said.

Sawai became a regular team member in his first year and contributed in their capture of the group title at All Japan High School Tournament and National Sports Festival. He also won the individual class Yusho at the National Sports Festival for two straight years. His weight also went up to 130 kg.

To prepare for this year's National Sports Festival held in Saitama, Sawai trained with members of the sumo club at Nihon Tsuun which won All Japan Corporate Tournament and got their members mesmerized. Several college sumo coaches

are already predicting for him to finish in the Best 8.

At All Japan Championship, there are three preliminary rounds and the top 32 will advance to the final phase. Sawai partcipated in the last year's Championship but he had only 1 win and 2 losses record and did not advance to the final.

This year he will face this year's College Yokozuna Hakiai of Kinki University, Ikeura (Shimizu High School teacher in Kochi Prefecture and the third place finisher in the 2002

All Japan College Championship) and Hirayama of Nihon University Sumo Club. Sawai will need to win at least two bouts to advance to the Final.

He is the same age as Maegashira Lead Kisenosato who joined Ozumo right after his graduation from Middle School. "Turning pro is the only way to go. I'd like to make my

dohyo debut at the Hatsu Basho next year," Sawai said. If Sawai wins the All Japan, he will become the first High School student ever to earn Makushita Tsukedashi qualification.

and a post from the same thread again by Jonosuke on dec 12.....

The year's top amateur rikishi in Japan will be decided at the 53rd All Japan Championship to be held at the Ryogoku Kokugikan on December 12. A total of 64 selected athletes made up of 31 non-student amateurs, 32 College students and 1 High School student will be vying for the honor of being awarded the title of

"Amateur Yokozuna of the Year".

At this year's All Japan, the only high schooler, 181 cm tall and weighing 130 kg Gotaro Sawai is attracting the most attention. Sawai from Saitama Sakae High can become the second high school student ever to win 12 national level sumo titles in his three high school years. The only other to accomplish this was Keita Kushima (former Maegashira Lead Kushimaumi and the current Tagonoura oyakata) twenty one years ago. Kushima went on to lead the famed Nihon University Sumo Club before joining Ozumo. Sawai has already won the two premier national high school sumo events this year. His favorite technique is going with migi-yotsu and taking his opponent's left front-mawashi but he is versatile to go with oshi-zumo as well. The Preliminary rounds will have four participants competing and those finishing the first or second will proceed to the Final phase with 32 participating. Sawai will face this year's College/University Yokozuna Akifumi Hakiai (4th year, Kinki University), Akira Hirayama (4th year, Nihon University) who won the individual 135 kg class at this year's East Japan University Sumo Championship, and Toru Ikeura (teacher, Shimizu High School, Kochi Prefecture) who placed the third in the All Japan School Teacher Sumo Championship.

Result was ...."High School Yokozuna" Gotaro Sawai of Saitama Sakae High School became the fourth high school student in its history to place in the top four by finishing the third since Keiji Tamiya (currently Komusubi Kotomitsuki) finished second in 1994.

Gotaro Sawai

-----------------

(Losing to Toganoki's Takanonami-like Kotenage but finishing in the third)

"Right now I feel some regret. Once you get all the way to there, I really wanted to win in the final. But I was able to have a good sumo today. This gave me a lot of self-confidence. Now I want to turn pro and do my best there."

from Kintamayma

He will be joining Iwakiyama at Sakaigawa -beya. He's 18 , yet he can benchpress 130 kilos, squat 300 kilos , and runs 50 meters in 7 seconds.

He starts at the bottom, since he didn't qualify for tsukedashi status, although he does qualify for tsukebito status.

High School Yokozuna Gotaro Sawaii, age 18, is 1.81 meter tall and weighs 130 kg. He won 11 titles in his three years of high school. In the recent All-Japan Tournament, he beat the Collegiate Yokozuna and became the fourth high-schooler to finish in the top 4. (I believe Kotoshogiku is also one of the 4.)

from Madorosamuru ...From an article at the time of his turning pro. The kid is confident: "There isn't any rikishi that is a model for me. I want to be the the kind of rikishi that would be the model for others." He is aiming to become a sekitori in two years and face Yokozuna Asashoryu.

Sakaigawa Oyakata had this to say about the prodigy: "I would like him to become a quick and strong rikishi like Chiyonofuji."

Kaikitsune Makoto boldly said in Nov 2005

that Sawai will a be big stars in ozumo. My prediction is that Sawai will become ozeki in 3 years max. Bold prediction for sure but he has superb quality

try 5 years...;)

More from Kaikitsune in Nov 2005 Obviously wake-up call was brisk since Sawai clinched his first makushita yusho by beating Satoyama to complete his strong 7-0 yusho. Sawai will start the year 2006 very close to juryo indeed where also Kageyama joins after vanquishing Wakanoho today with morozashi yorikiri. Sawai had had quite thorough warm-up session at shitaku-beya prior to his bout against Satoyama spending about an hour doing shiko and suriashi. Also moto-Asahiyutaka mentioned that Sawai doesn't rely to his favourite migi-zashi so much anymore which of course is a good development.

Yet more from Kakitsune Makoto

Some background info so people know who are these rikishi in this thread...

Sawai won 11 high school titles and was the only high school rikishi who participated in All Japan 2004 championship where he lost in semifinals to a veteran kotenage-king. He is very fast and strong rikishi already with very good keiko attitude. He started with 7-0 jonokuchi yusho in Haru 2005, then went 6-1 in Natsu 2005 losing one bout to Teruyama. In Nagoya basho he dominated sandanme with 7-0 and made his makushita debut in Aki basho. Showing tremendously strong sumo on his winning days, he still lost three and got a mere 4-3. Now in Kyushu basho he returned to winning ways going 7-0 at mid-makushita. Yet, he beat both Hokutoiwa and Satoyama easily enough which would indicate he is more than ready challenge the yusho also in Hatsu basho 2006. He will probably be tested fully by Baruto then and there are other obviously challenging foes coming to tussle with fire on the mawashi every day.

Sawai's height is listed as 182cm on Kyokai's site and 138kg weight which has gone down since his debut so it is a good frame to build on. His leg strength was said to be very impressive already. He comes from Osaka and was born 6th of April in 1986.

Sawai has beaten Kageyama twice during their career so far. Their first bout as jonokuchi rikishi was against each other. Sawai won with shitatenage.

Sawai's career so far:

Jk31 Haru 2005 7-0 yusho:

Sawai shitatenage Kageyama

Sawai oshidashi Hayatefuji

Sawai oshidashi Anjoryu

Sawai kotenage Yonemura

Sawai oshitaoshi Kaneko

Sawai yorikiri Matsuda

Sawai yoritaoshi Nadatsukasa

Jd25w Natsu 2005 6-1 kk:

Sawai yorikiri Kosei

Sawai yorikiri Kamioiyama

Sawai yorikiri Anju

Sawai yorikiri Kaishinho

Sawai yorikiri Hakunoryu

Sawai hikiotoshi Kageyama

Teruyama shitatedashinage Sawai

Sd61w Nagoya 2005 7-0 yusho:

Sawai yorikiri Oisami

Sawai hatakikomi Yuki

Sawai yoritaoshi Seiryu

Sawai yorikiri Takashoma

Sawai yorikiri Sokokurai

Sawai sotogake Asatofuji

Sawai oshidashi Fujitsukasa

Ms37w Aki 2005 4-3 kk:

Tatsuyutaka uwatenage Sawai

Sawai yorikiri Ryugi

Kakuo hikiotoshi Sawai

Sawai yorikiri Munakata

Asahibenten yoritaoshi Sawai

Sawai yoritaoshi Kirinoumi

Sawai hikiotoshi Ichinotani

Ms32w Kyushu 2005 7-0 yusho:

Sawai yorikiri Dewanofuji

Sawai uwatenage Shibuya

Sawai yorikiri Kakuo

Sawai yoritaoshi Arawashi

Sawai watashikomi Kitataiki

Sawai oshidashi Hokutoiwa

Sawai oshidashi Satoyama

from madorosamuru

November "Ozumo" magazine has a six-page feature on Sakaigawa Oyakata and his heya-ful of "Young Lions." Sawai, "Super Rookie" as the article calls him, has been the impetus of the new-found vigor at the heya.

Keiko is intense with moshiai fought like honbasho bouts. Heya leader, Iwakiyama, states quite frankly that "the atmosphere at keiko-ba has clearly changed from before. I cannot futz around [or else]."

and Dec 2005....from madorosamuru ... Each basho is a greater challenge for Sawai but, in Kyushu, he not only survived by thrived as he rushed past a gantlet of some of makushita's finest. In achieving his zensho yusho, he convincingly beat such tough hombres as m7 Hokutoiwa and m26 Kitataiki, both of whose 6-1 records were blemished only by Sawai.

He also whupped young hopefuls, Tamanoi's irrepressible Shibuya (5-2) and small-but-tough Mongolian, Arawashi (4-3 w/ losses to Shibuya and Sawai). To top it all, as Kaikitsune mentioned, for his 7th bout, he was pitted against the best available one-loss rikishi he hadn't already faced, Satoyama, creme de la creme of the division.

more from KM

Kumegawa is Sadogatake-beya's former Kotoinazuma. Takasaki is former Oginohana

(Oginishiki's brother) and Yamahibiki is former Dairyu.

About Sawai:

When he was at Sumo Kyoshujo, he was diligent doing keiko - but not really so with basics

like shiko, although he did seem to favor moushiai. His sumo was very powerful. His lower

body showed good flexibility when he endured. It's a bit hard to tell if he's a serious

or frivolous guy [laughter] because I never see him talk much. ( by Yamahibiki )

He was not particular doing extra routine-keiko, but he definitely was the best among all

those new boys including college graduates. One good thing about his sumo is he already

has his style - migi yotsu. ( by Takasaki )

He is not that big, but his sumo-strength comes from the fact that he has his own style,

and he also has techniques. I'd suggest he should stick mean, he seems to have what it

takes - impetus, should I say. And I think he has this passion inside although he does

not talk too much.( by Kumegawa )

More from KM.

In Hatsu basho Sawai suffered his first make-koshi at Ms2w.

Hatsu 2006 Day 1 Chiyotenzan yoritaoshi Sawai

Hatsu 2006 Day 2 Kakuryu hatakikomi Sawai

Hatsu 2006 Day 3 Sawai yorikiri Kinkaiyama

Hatsu 2006 Day 4 Sawai yorikiri Daishoma

Hatsu 2006 Day 5 Takamifuji oshidashi Sawai

Hatsu 2006 Day 6 Kanbayashi oshitaoshi Sawai

Hatsu 2006 Day 7 Sawai yorikiri Yanagawa

Sumo contents was not so bad but he couldn't do his own sumo well.

yet more insight form KM. April 2006

Sawai had a 3-4 record. There is a report of lower back problems for two basho now and while Sawai himself denied it had significance to his Hatsu make-koshi, it certainly may be a factor slowing him down now. His major weakness is the tachi-ai where he loses all bouts totally. On day 1 he lost the tachi-ai against Kanbayashi and let Kanbayashi attack with his excellent reaching tsuki. Yet Sawai hung on very well at the tawara and even got a right hand outside grip but was off balance enough for Kanbayashi to continue the movement resulting in katasukashi. He reportedly lost 100-0 at the tachi-ai both against Ryuo and Masatsukasa. He also lost to Isobe by oshitaoshi.

Even in his winning bouts against Koryu and Wakakirin he lost the tachi-ai and especially against Koryu was in grave danger and only managed to twist him down at the last moment. Against hapless Wakakirin he got a grip on the mawashi well before the edge and then easily hoisted him up and out. Takanotsuru was of no test.

Basically his basho was very mediocre. Win against Koryu was awkward and Wakakirin and Takanotsuru were not genki at all. He lost all 4 bouts decisively. Bad basho. He is very strong once in yotsu but he can't be this bad at the tachi-ai nor against fast pushing attacks.

July 2006 from Kaikitsune

Well Sawai has had 3-4 in Natsu basho and now 4-3 in Nagoya basho. He beat good quality foes this time upending Wakanoho, Bushuyama, Takakoyama and Daishoma. The problem still is that he lost to Yakigaya (pusher) with oshitaoshi. A component of significance in his stagnation must be the reported lower back problems. Otherwise his stagnation is really difficult to comprehend. Such a brilliant rikishi he was before the problems. An interesting fact is that as recently as in October 2005 Sawai beat Hochiyama in almost all training bouts and now Hochiyama has strolled through juryo with an impressive 13-2 yusho and promotion to makuuchi. Would be interesting to hear how their keiko is nowadays. In any case Sawai is still very young and has that massive talent. Hopefully his stagnation is due to an injury as in that case there is some clear reason for this. Otherwise very baffling indeed. Still, Sawai only needs one strong basho to be on the verge of juryo promotion and maybe that is what he needs now, much the same way as his stablemate Hochiyama who showed he has no problems with juryo competition and belongs to makuuchi despite that long standing upper makushita stint. Fascinating heya situation though since Hochiyama now enters makuuchi and both Sawai and Kadomoto are big prospects at career high ranks or close by. Keiko incentives should be sky high continuosly.

Update Aki 2006:

Sawai took the yusho with his second 7-0 yusho in makushita and will be promoted to juryo and joins Tochiozan only one basho behind. Sawai's path to 7-0 yusho:

Sawai sukuinage Bushuyama

Sawai yorikiri Shoketsu

Sawai sotogake Yanagawa

Sawai oshidashi Raiko

Sawai yorikiri Tamaasuka

Sawai kotenage Maeta

Sawai hatakikomi Isobe

and here is monster post by Kaikitsune Makoto (Sign of approval...)

Quality is a word always associated with 21-year old shin-makuuchi Goeido. He has impressed people with his quality and sumo in various contexts. Back in time when he was a kid, his mother once registered him to a contest of older boys hoping "he would get beaten up and got some humility" as he had become a bit arrogant amongst his own age groups due to relative invincibility. The plan didn't quite work as Goeido wasn't humbled by older kids but simply beat them all and won the contest. During his high school days he drew a lot of attention with his many victories and all this climaxed at All Japan where he more than held his own against college stars and narrowly missed the final by losing to kotenage machine in semi-final. Before joing sumo he caused Homasho many sleepless nights and nightly outdoor training punishments as he got totally humiliated at keiko against then amateur high school kid who came to train with Terao's rikishi. Having seen a clip of that session, it once again proved how uniquely strong Goeido was.

When he then joined sumo, his oyakata was impressed by his physical abilities. Already had great squatting strength and upper body wasn't weak either. In his first bout in jonokuchi he beat Tochiozan (then Kageyama) with shitatenage. He ascended the banzuke to makushita fast (yusho, 6-1, yusho) but then had a wake-up call by only getting a 4-3 in his makushita debut. He quickly got over the deceleration and again impressed many with his flawless 7-0 yusho in Kyushu basho. Many people expected him to breeze through to juryo in next tournament but then he got a burden of a lower back injury and couldn't compete in his full capacity for many basho. In Aki 2006 he won his second makushita yusho with 7-0 at Ms6 and got promoted to juryo.

What often happens with high quality makushita rikishi who finally break through to juryo is that they tend to do better in juryo than in makushita. His stablemate Hochiyama was a good example of this and he has become a lower makuuchi, upper juryo rikishi since his debut in juryo after countless of failures at high makushita. In his debut he started off with 0-3 before getting his act together. He finished his juryo debut with 8-7 at J11 winning his last four bouts. In Hatsu 2007 he again achieved only 8-7 but with more kirikaeshi, kozumatori, sotogake and especially his senshuraku win over yusho hunter Shimotori. He won that bout with powerful tsuridashi.

Still he wasn't performing as well as he "should", considering the quality of his sumo in principle. His clear weakness had been defense against oshi-rikishi. Even though he has had Iwakiyama and Toyohibiki to work out with at his heya, and even Hochiyama can put the wrath of tsuki on people, his continuous problem was poor defense against oshi-attack. Even Takanohana commented that he was worried about his development at some point. In Hatsu 2007 he was totally destroyed by Masatsukasa, Koryu and Tochisakae in oshizumo. The lower back problems undoubtedly had an affect on this.

In Haru 2007 he looked totally newborn. Healthier and very strong. Even his demeanor and gait at Osaka prefectual gymnasium radiated confidence and eagerness to get on the dohyo to dominate his foes day after day. He started with totally overpowering sumo by winning his 7 first bouts. Then he had two bouts against Shirononami and even in hopeless position in the first bout he somehow managed to hang in there and go for kubinage resulting in rematch. H ewasn't deterred by the loss and continued his powerful sumo by beating Asofuji, Tamarikido and Koryu with ease. On day 12 he lost to old fox Otsupotsu's early withdrawal trick and was pummeled on day 13 by accurate Hokutoriki attack bringin his defensive disadvantage against oshi attacks more on the surface again. He bounced back from two consecutive losses by beating the Gambler on day 14 but lost to Satoyama's brilliance on day 15 in yusho deciding bout.

Nevertheless, Hatsu 2007 was the final breakthrough to makuuchi level rikishi and what was notable was his clearly improved tachi-ai robustness against oshi-rikishi. The one fault of his was finally showing signs of steady polishing. It wasn't a far-fetched thought to consider him one of the favourites to win yusho in Haru 2007 at J3 and get easily promoted to makuuchi but again., something odd happened and he actually finished with 6-9, getting slapped down and pulled past a lot. Unexplainable degeneration in his sumo compared to Natsu basho.

In Nagoya 2007 he returned to his Haru level and only lost to his true nemensis Masatsukasa on day 2 (he is 0-4 against him) after an ill-advised poull-down attempt after bad tachia-i, to Shirononami on day 8, to Mokonami on day 12 after a good defense and in kettei-sen to his stablemate Iwakiyama. His sumo was superb thought almost without an exception. He dominated nost bouts with fast yotsu, didn't fail to stop oshi-attacks and showeed substantial hip power, balance and stability. He lifted Wakanoho and Tochinohana up in the air on his way to yorikiri, used his skillful kirikaeshi against and thriew down his fors with uwatenage, shitatenage and shitatedashinage. 12-3 at J5 will take him to makuuchi.

Goeido's sumo style in migi-yotsu, that is his most natural way but lately he has shown true strenght also in hidari-yotsu and isn't handicapped in that either. He also liked to go for kirikaeshi well as well as sotogake. In additio to those, he also does tsuri. All in all his yotsu is creative and sharp. Often he rushes forward in the same way Hayateumi did in his prime. That famous invisibly classy yori which looks so easy, at times he gets in close and goes for big kirikaeshi. He also hits harder at the tachi-ai now and doesn't yield in much there anymore. At keiko he dominates Toyohibiki, Iwakiyama, Hochiyama clearly and is said to have great stamina. He also has neat dashinage techniques and throws equally well from shitate and uwate positions. He can also go for kotenage and leg techniques. His mobility is at high level and reactions are fast. When he takes the initiative and forces the bout to go his way, he is extremely difficult to beat. Hopefully his makuuchi debut is as exciting as many expect. Finally he has caught up with Tochiozan and is in the same division with Iwakiyama and Toyohibiki. Hochiyama drops down to juryo for Aki but if he can get back up immediately, 4 Sakaigawa-rikishi in makuuchi is reality.

One interesting stat that describes his sumo well is the fact that he has NEVER lost by yorikiri in his whole professional career of 145 bouts. He has lost 9 times by oshitaoshi and 6 times by yoritaoshi but never by yorikiri. It means two things really:

1. He never gives up

2. He is not a rikishi easily beaten in yotsu

He is 182cm tall and around 135kg mark. He needs more tachi-ai training still and a lot of keiko against Toyohibiki to get even better against oshi-attacks. Hopefully we will see him soon at high maegashira to show his goods and maybe even lose by yorikiri...

What Wikipedia had to say.....

Joining sumo at the same time was Tochiōzan. Gōeidō had fought him a number of times in amateur sumo competitions and regards him as his chief rival. He reached sekitori status one tournament later than Tochiōzan, taking the championship in the third makushita division in September 2006 with a perfect 7-0 record, which earned him promotion to jūryō. Tochiōzan also preceded him into the top makuuchi division. Gōeidō himself earned promotion to makuuchi after a 12-3 jun yusho at the rank of jūryō 5 in July 2007. He had a very successful top division debut, leading the race for the championship after the 11th day with a score of 10-1. Pitted against higher ranked opposition on the next three days, he lost to Ama, ozeki Chiyotaikai and Yokozuna Hakuhō. He was the first makuuchi debutant to face a yokozuna since Tosanoumi in 1995. He ended the tournament with an 11-4 score and was awarded the Fighting Spirit prize. In the November tournment he won six of his first seven bouts, and though he began losing in the second week he still finished with a majority of wins (8-7). He was promoted up the ranks to maegashira 3 in January 2008, where he fought well but fell short with five wins, one of which was over ozeki Kotomitsuki.

Jonosuke on his Shikona.

Initially his new shikona sounded strange like "GO-Eh-Doh", like an anime character or some cheerleaders call but I warmed up to it now.

It's a good shikona.

In kanji, it's "豪栄道　豪太郎".

The first kanji of his Shikona and his actual given name Go-ta-ro share the same kanji.

"豪" is the same one as Takekaze's Take meaning "heroic" and "vigorous". So having not only one but two of it should make him more invinceble.

Another is his shisho's given name has the same kanji. He is Sakaigawa Hideaki (former komusubi Ryogoku) as in "境川 豪章".

I think it's a great shikona.Another plus is having "doh" at the end as any shikona ending with "Oh" will help yobidashis call their name. They can really raise up the shikona ending to extend it. Some shikona like "Wakamisugi" is very difficult to call it with its end going up.

A migi-yotsu/yori rikishi his favoured winning technique is naturally Yorikiri as seen in the pie chart.

Edited April 3, 2008 by sekihiryu

[Gusoyama 103]

Someone get this into the Sumopedia! STAT!

[Bealzbob 0]

Very impressive Sekihiryu. Obviously a motivated researcher (I am going off-topic...)

[Kaikitsune Makoto 209]

INteresting to read my own stuff about him. Nowadays his weakness at tachi-ai has become much less obvious. At keiko he is clearly the best rikishi at Sakaigawa-beya and takes oshi attacks well now. Now it seems he has a bit of Kisenosato-disease of being a bit erratic and unpolished despite his polished sumo in principle. He rushes things and loses in weird manner at times. Like Kisenosato, he can get past that phase. He surely has the tools to be great.

[Asashosakari 19,305]

He surely has the tools to be great.

So did Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor but that fact never seemed to help.

Oohhh...now that you've seen the light on Kisenosato, you're going to be contrarian on Kaikitsune's next pet project instead? ;-)

[aderechelsea 125]

Not at all. I was on the Sawai bandwagon before he even entered ozumo. Gotta support those hometown rikishi.

He's Irish ??? ;-)

[Bishonohana 0]

Great report and stats!! :-D He is one of my favorite Rikishi now!! :-)

[Musashoryu 3]

Great stuff.....after Aki 2008 I am a fan.....I will watch his career with great interest, is he capable of Yokozuna?

[sekihiryu 51]

update:

In the Aki Basho 2008, he put a solid 10-5 effort from M5W - at one point he was 9-1 and a serious contender but faced and lost to Hakuho, Kaio and Kotooshu on consecutive days dropping to 9-4. Nevertheless he scooped a his second Kanto-sho and earned promotion for the first time to Sanyaku and fought from the K1E slot in the Kyushu Basho.

The jump to Sanyaku was a baptism of fire and the "curse of the Sanyaku debut"* came in full effect.

He was 2-10 after 12 days and only 3 wins to round off the basho saved him from total disaster and allowed him to finish up at 5-10. his only win in the first week was interestingly against in the Sekiwake in red hot form - Ama, who lost only twice in the basho on his way to a 13-2 yusho doten and promotion to Ozeki.

*the majority of rikishi in their debut in sanyaku have a losing record

Edited November 30, 2008 by sekihiryu

[sekihiryu 51]

Wow so long ago I first picked him to be the featured rikishi, back when this sub forum was alive.  That main post was perhaps my greatest ever . 

Goeido promised so much but missed that final hurdle.