Shōhōzan Yūya

Shōhōzan Yūya
松鳳山 裕也
Matsutani 2010 May.JPG
Shōhōzan in 2010
Personal information
BornYūya Matsutani
(1984-02-09) February 9, 1984 (age 37)
Chikujō, Fukuoka, Japan
Height1.77 m (5 ft 9+12 in)
Weight132 kg (291 lb)
Career
StableNishonoseki
UniversityKomazawa University
Current ranksee below
DebutMarch, 2006
Highest rankKomusubi (Jan, 2013)
Championships1 (Jūryō)
2 (Makushita)
1 (Jonidan)
Special PrizesFighting Spirit (3)
Outstanding Performance (1)
Gold Stars5
Harumafuji (3)
Kakuryū (2)
* Up to date as of 26 September 2021.

Shōhōzan Yūya (Japanese: 松鳳山 裕也, born February 9, 1984 as Yūya Matsutani (松谷 裕也)) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Chikujō, Fukuoka. He made his professional debut in March 2006, reaching the top makuuchi division in November 2011. He has earned three Fighting Spirit prizes to date, and has been runner-up in one tournament. He has five kinboshi or gold stars for defeating yokozuna, three earned against Harumafuji and two against Kakuryū. The highest rank he has reached is komusubi, which he has achieved on five separate occasions, firstly in 2013.

Early life and sumo background

He played baseball and judo in his junior high school years, but on transferring to an industrial and science high school in nearby Ōita Prefecture he joined the sumo club after being scouted by the coach at the school. In his second and third years he participated in two annual regional tournaments. In these tournaments, he managed to reach the best eight, but was beaten both times by future ōzeki Kotoshōgiku. In Komazawa University, he was a regular on the sumo team and managed to be runner up for the championship at a national competition.

Career

Early career

His successes at this level garnered him many invitations from various sumo stables but chose to enter Matsugane, the stable that first approached him (it has since changed its name to Nishonoseki). He entered the professional ring in May 2006, fighting under his own surname of Matsutani. He was not able to achieve makushita tsukedashi status as he had never managed to win a national tournament before turning pro. He posted a decent jonokuchi debut with a 5–2 record. In the next tournament, he took the jonidan championship with a perfect 7–0 record and a playoff victory over fellow up-and-comer Sakaizawa. Three strong tournaments in sandanme got him promotion to the third makushita division in March, 2007. He had had a very strong showing up to this point, and had claimed he wanted to make makushita before the time for his hair to be tied up in a topknot came. He did achieve this goal, and though he started out strong with two consecutive 6-1 tournaments, as is often the case with wrestlers trying to advance through makushita, this is where he began to have trouble. He would struggle in the division for exactly three years. He began to find his stride in July, 2009. He achieved a 6–1 record and had a playoff bout against the future Akiseyama, which he lost. His sumo would grow more consistent from this point and after four more tournaments in makushita in which he had only one losing tournament, he finally qualified for the second tier jūryō division for the May 2010 tournament. He was only the second wrestler in thirty-three years from Komazawa University to achieve promotion to jūryō.

In his sekitori debut he won 9 of 15 bouts and was promoted to jūryō #8 for the following tournament, but only managed a 6–9 record. His losing tournament would be the least of his concerns though. It was revealed on August 12, 2010 in a follow up to the June investigation into baseball gambling, that Matsutani, along with a sandanme wrestler from his stable had also been involved in gambling, but had not come forward, and had participated in the July, 2010 tournament while other wrestlers who were implicated or who admitted involvement had been suspended. He, along with his stablemate and his coach, apologized to the public in a press conference soon after. In September, the Japan Sumo Association handed down the decision not to dismiss the wrestlers, but to suspend them for two tournaments (September and November).

Upon his return in the first tournament of 2011 he had fallen to makushita #51. Seemingly burning to redeem himself, Matsutani pulled off a perfect 7-0 championship, and even with the turmoil due to the following tournament being cancelled due to the match-fixing scandal he still pulled off another perfect championship in the succeeding May tournament. In many ways, this would mirror sekitori Toyonoshima's feat in previous months of bouncing back from a demotion to jūryō for baseball gambling by pulling off a championship in that tournament and almost pulling off a makuuchi championship in a playoff loss to Hakuhō in the following tournament. Matsutani would attain re-entry to jūryō at a career high #3. He only managed a 7–8 record, but in the following September tournament at jūryō #5 would bounce back with a convincing 11–4 winning tournament.

Makuuchi career

On his November 2011 tournament top tier makuuchi debut, he adopted the shikona Shōhōzan and achieved a 10–5 record. He reached what was at that time a career high of maegashira 1 in the September tournament of 2012. He had his best tournament to date in the following tournament in November, scoring ten wins and defeating three ōzeki. This earned him his first special prize, for Fighting Spirit. He was promoted to komusubi for the January 2013 tournament, becoming the first man from Matsugane stable to reach the san'yaku ranks since its establishment in 1990. He has since been re-promoted to komusubi three times, though he has never held the rank for more than one tournament. He won his second Fighting Spirit prize in September 2013, and also earned his first kinboshi for an upset of a yokozuna while ranked as a maegashira, defeating Harumafuji.

After a disastrous 1–14 performance in the March 2015 tournament, he was demoted to jūryō, and was unable to get a winning record in the next tournament to return immediately to the top division. In September however he won the division with a 13–2 record and was promoted back to the top division for the next tournament. In November he produced his best performance in the top division, winning twelve matches and finishing in a three-way tie for second place: only a defeat by Aminishiki on the final day prevented him from reaching a play-off for the championship. His efforts saw him being awarded his third Fighting Spirit award.

In January 2016 he defeated Harumafuji again to win his second kinboshi, but he otherwise had a relatively quiet year, and was not able to put together enough consistent performances to earn promotion back to san'yaku. In the January 2017 tournament he earned his third kinboshi, once again beating Harumafuji, and he got his fourth in March, but he remained in the maegashira ranks for the rest of the year. In May 2018 he won the Outstanding Performance prize for being the only wrestler to defeat the tournament winner, Kakuryū. This performance was rewarded with promotion to komusubi for the first time since 2014, but he lasted only one tournament at the rank with a 3–12 record. He was demoted to jūryō after the September 2020 tournament, by which time he was the oldest man in the top division, but he decided to continue wrestling.

Personal

He had become known for having a very stern, almost scary visage, but in his jūryō entry interview people were surprised to learn he had a very expressive smiling face and a friendly way of talking. He even admitted to being sensitive enough to cry when he first heard of his jūryō entry.

Shōhōzan is married, with his first son born in 2014. He also has another younger son.

Fighting style

Shōhōzan specialises in pushing and thrusting techniques, or oshi-sumo. His most common winning kimarite is oshi-dashi, or push out, followed by yori-kiri or force out.

Career record

Shōhōzan Yūya
Year in sumo January
Hatsu basho, Tokyo
March
Haru basho, Osaka
May
Natsu basho, Tokyo
July
Nagoya basho, Nagoya
September
Aki basho, Tokyo
November
Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka
2006 x (Maezumo) West Jonokuchi #14
5–2
 
West Jonidan #90
7–0–P
Champion

 
West Sandanme #84
5–2
 
West Sandanme #52
6–1
 
2007 East Sandanme #2
4–3
 
East Makushita #54
6–1
 
East Makushita #26
6–1
 
East Makushita #9
3–4
 
East Makushita #14
3–4
 
West Makushita #19
2–5
 
2008 West Makushita #34
4–3
 
West Makushita #25
4–3
 
West Makushita #17
6–1
 
East Makushita #5
1–6
 
East Makushita #26
4–3
 
West Makushita #16
3–4
 
2009 West Makushita #24
6–1
 
East Makushita #9
3–4
 
East Makushita #13
3–4
 
East Makushita #21
6–1–P
 
East Makushita #7
4–3
 
West Makushita #5
3–4
 
2010 West Makushita #7
6–1
 
East Makushita #1
4–3
 
East Jūryō #12
9–6
 
East Jūryō #8
6–9
 
East Jūryō #11
Suspended
0–0–15
West Makushita #11
Suspended
0–0–7
2011 West Makushita #51
7–0
Champion

 
West Makushita #4
Tournament Cancelled
0–0–0
West Makushita #4
7–0
Champion

 
East Jūryō #3
7–8
 
East Jūryō #5
11–4
 
East Maegashira #15
10–5
 
2012 East Maegashira #8
8–7
 
East Maegashira #6
7–8
 
East Maegashira #7
9–6
 
West Maegashira #3
8–7
 
East Maegashira #1
7–8
 
East Maegashira #2
10–5
F
2013 West Komusubi #1
4–11
 
West Maegashira #4
7–8
 
East Maegashira #5
8–7
 
East Komusubi #1
7–8
 
East Maegashira #1
8–7
F
East Komusubi #1
4–11
 
2014 East Maegashira #5
9–6
 
West Komusubi #1
5–10
 
East Maegashira #5
8–7
 
East Maegashira #1
4–11
 
East Maegashira #7
6–9
 
East Maegashira #10
7–8
 
2015 East Maegashira #11
8–7
 
East Maegashira #8
1–14
 
West Jūryō #3
7–8
 
West Jūryō #4
6–9
 
West Jūryō #6
13–2
Champion

 
West Maegashira #10
12–3
F
2016 West Maegashira #1
5–10
West Maegashira #5
4–11
 
West Maegashira #11
11–4
 
East Maegashira #4
5–10
 
East Maegashira #7
8–7
 
East Maegashira #5
8–7
 
2017 East Maegashira #2
7–8
East Maegashira #3
5–10
East Maegashira #8
6–9
 
West Maegashira #10
10–5
 
East Maegashira #3
8–7
 
East Maegashira #3
3–12
 
2018 East Maegashira #9
9–6
 
East Maegashira #4
8–7
 
East Maegashira #2
8–7
O
West Komusubi #1
3–12
 
East Maegashira #7
7–8
 
West Maegashira #7
10–5
 
2019 West Maegashira #3
5–10
 
East Maegashira #10
7–8
 
East Maegashira #11
8–7
 
East Maegashira #9
6–9
 
East Maegashira #12
9–6
 
East Maegashira #8
8–7
 
2020 East Maegashira #7
7–8
 
East Maegashira #8
4–11
 
West Maegashira #12
Tournament Cancelled
0–0–0
West Maegashira #12
5–10
 
West Maegashira #15
5–10
 
West Jūryō #2
6–9
 
2021 East Jūryō #4
5–10
 
West Jūryō #8
8–7
 
East Jūryō #6
8–7
 
West Jūryō #1
5–10
 
East Jūryō #4
10–5
 
x
Record given as win-loss-absent    Top Division Champion Top Division Runner-up Retired Lower Divisions

Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique     Also shown: =Kinboshi; P=Playoff(s)
Divisions: MakuuchiJūryōMakushitaSandanmeJonidanJonokuchi

Makuuchi ranks: YokozunaŌzekiSekiwakeKomusubiMaegashira

See also


This page was last updated at 2021-10-25 22:43 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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