Azumaryū Tsuyoshi

He came to Japan at the age of 15, and attended Meitoku Gijuku High School, known for its strong sumo club. He joined the Kyushu Institute of Information Sciences but left in his third year when an opening became available at Tamanoi stable after the retirement of the Brazilian Takaazuma (sumo rules restrict foreigners to one per stable). The Japan Sumo Association had recently had issues with foreign wrestlers such as Hakurozan and Rohō who had been dismissed from sumo after a cannabis scandal but Azumaryū's six years in Japan convinced the stable that he had the necessary experience of Japanese culture to be a success. Although he was accepted by the stable in November 2008, he was not able to make his debut on the dohyō until the following tournament in January 2009, because of Sumo Association rules requiring foreigners to have satisfied all their visa requirements and attend sumo education classes.

He moved through the lower divisions quickly, but found the makushita division more difficult. Finally in November 2012 a 6–1 record at the top of makushita saw him promoted to the jūryō division. He said upon his promotion that he hoped to emulate his hero Kaiō.[1] In just his second tournament in the division he lost a play-off for the yūshō or championship to fellow Mongolian Kyokushūhō after both finished with 12–3 records, and this performance earned him promotion to the top makuuchi division for the first time. A 6–9 record saw him demoted straight back to jūryō, but he returned to the top division after a 10–5 record in January 2014 at jūryō 3. In his second makuuchi tournament in March 2014 he was ranked at maegashira 14 and stood at five wins and four losses after nine days, but finished with another 6–9 record. The retirement of Kotoōshū after that tournament opened up an extra slot in makuuchi, but Sadanoumi, with 8–7 at jūryō 4, was given the extra rank of maegashira 17 over Azumaryū who again was demoted. He won promotion back to makuuchi for the July 2014 tournament, but injured his knee on the 14th day and had to withdraw, losing his scheduled 15th day bout by default. This was the first bout he had missed in his career. His 7–8 record was enough to keep him in makuuchi but his injury kept him out of the following tournament in September 2014, resulting in a fall to jūryō. Although he returned in November 2014 two more losing records saw him demoted to the unsalaried makushita division for the March 2015 tournament.

In September 2015 he took part in an eight-way play-off for the makushita championship, and although he was defeated by Chiyoshōma in the semi-final stage his 6–1 record was good enough for a return to jūryō. He has remained a sekitori since then, and although he was consistent enough to avoid demotion he did not win promotion back to the top division until 2019, when a majority of wins at jūryō 1 saw him return to makuuchi after 30 tournaments away.[2] This is the second longest gap between top division appearances after Satoyama's 37 tournaments. He managed only a 6–9 record in his makuuchi return and was demoted back to jūryō, but an 11–4 record from the top rank of Jūryō 1 East ensured his immediate return to the top division. He also won the jūryō division championship after a four-way playoff with Ikioi, Kaisei and Kiribayama, his first yūshō in any division.

Azumaryū remained in the top division for two tournaments, but was back in jūryō for the third tournament of 2020, held in July. He missed the September tournament because of an outbreak of COVID-19 at his stable,[3] but along with all his stablemates did not suffer any drop in rank as a result. After spending the whole of 2021 in jūryō, he won promotion back to makuuchi following a 10-5 record at jūryō 2 in the March 2022 tournament.[4] He had to withdraw from Day 11 of the July 2022 tournament after another COVID outbreak at Tamanoi stable.[5] He returned to the top division for the November 2022 tournament at maegashira 14,[6] and secured his first top division kachi-koshi in January 2023.[7]

Azumaryū prefers a migi yotsu (left hand outside, right hand inside) grip on his opponent's mawashi. His favourite kimarite or techniques are yori-kiri (force out) and uwatenage (overarm throw).

Azumaryū has been married to a Mongolian woman one year his senior since 2011, when their marriage was registered in Ulaanbaatar. They have two daughters and one son. A formal wedding ceremony was held in Tokyo on 19 February 2023, one month after Azumaryū secured his first winning record in the top division.[7]

• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of active sumo wrestlers
• List of sumo tournament second division champions

• Azumaryū Tsuyoshi's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage