Ikioi Shōta

Ikioi Shōta (Japanese: 勢 翔太, born 11 October 1986 as Shōta Toguchi (東口 翔太)) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Katano, Osaka. He began his career in March 2005. He won the jūryō championship in November 2011 in his very first tournament in the division and just two tournaments later made his makuuchi division debut. He was runner up to Jōkōryū in the jūryō division in September 2012. His highest rank has been sekiwake. He has four special prizes for Fighting Spirit and four gold stars for defeating yokozuna. He has not missed a bout in his career to date.

In this Japanese shikona name, the surname is Ikioi.

Ikioi Shōta
勢 翔太
Ikioi in 2013
Personal information
BornShōta Toguchi
(1986-10-11) 11 October 1986
Katano, Osaka, Japan
Height1.94 m (6 ft 4 1⁄2 in)
Weight171 kg (377 lb; 26.9 st)
Career
StableIsenoumi
Current ranksee below
DebutMarch, 2005
Highest rankSekiwake (May, 2016)
Championships2 (Jūryō)
Special Prizes4 (Fighting Spirit)
Gold Stars4 (Hakuhō 2), (Kakuryū 2)
* Up to date as of August 2, 2020.

Early life and sumo background

From his preschool years Toguchi was enrolled at a local sumo dōjō, coincidentally the future Gōeidō was also enrolled there at this time. In 1996 as a primary school fourth grader, he came in runner up at a national children's sumo tournament. After junior high school, he attempted to enter Hōtoku Gakuen high school which had a strong sumo team, but when he failed he decided to take a break from sumo and worked at his parents' sushi restaurant for three years while continuing to stay in shape.

Career
Ikioi during the January 2012 tournament.

Acceding to his mother's wishes, at eighteen he joined Isenoumi stable and first entered the ring in March 2005. He took the shikona or ring name of Ikioi from his first pro tournament. In his second tournament in July 2005 in the jonidan division he achieved a perfect record, but lost his second bout in a three-way playoff for the championship to the future Daidō. In September 2006 while competing in the makushita division he was punched in the face in the dressing room after a bout with forty-year-old Kotokanyu, who apparently objected to being slapped around the face (a legitimate tactic known as harite) by someone over twenty years his junior.[1] Kotokanyu was told to retire immediately afterwards. Over the next five years, Ikioi managed to work his way slowly up the ranks until he was finally awarded promotion to the salaried jūryō division after a 5–2 record at makushita 3 in September 2011. In contrast to his slow progress previously, Ikioi found unprecedented success in the jūryō second division. He had only one loss in the first thirteen days of his jūryō debut, and even though he lost his last two bouts he still managed to win the tournament. His 10–5 record in the following January 2012 tournament earned him promotion to the makuuchi top division.

Ikioi was the first wrestler to have only one Chinese character in his ring name to enter the top division since Yokozuna Akebono twenty-two years before. He posted only posted a 5–10 record in his makuuchi debut in March and was immediately relegated back to jūryō. He repeated the same pattern in the following two tournaments, posting a strong winning record in upper jūryō to again enter makuuchi only to get a 7–8 losing record to again be relegated to the lower division. His September 2012 division effort at jūryō 1 was where he managed to turn things around, achieving an 11–4 record and a chance at the championship which he lost to Jōkōryū in a playoff. This performance saw him promoted to maegashira 10. He achieved his first kachi-koshi or winning record in the top division at the third attempt in November 2012, and was promoted to maegashira 5 for the January 2013 tournament. In this basho he defeated his first ever san'yaku opponent, Tochiōzan, and came through with another winning record.

Ikioi is now a makuuchi regular, and in the May 2014 tournament recorded an 11–4 at maegashira 5 and received his second special prize for Fighting Spirit. In September his bout against Ichinojo was stopped by the referee after he suffered a heavy nosebleed from striking Ichinojo's shoulder, a rare occurrence, but he still went on to win.[2] He made his sanyaku debut at komusubi rank in the November 2014 tournament. However, he scored only six wins, and struggled badly when facing the top ranked wrestlers again, scoring only 1–14 at maegashira 2 in January and 2–13 at maegashira 3 in July. When dropped to maegashira 12 in September he returned to form, and after eleven days he was in second place with a 10–1 record. He then lost his next three but recovered to beat Amuuru on the final day to end with an 11–4 record and a Fighting Spirit prize.[3] In November he produced his best performance in the top division, winning twelve matches and finishing in a three-way tie for second place. He also earned his fourth Fighting Spirit prize.[4]

In January 2016 Ikioi was ranked at komusubi again but recorded only five wins and was relegated to maegashira 4. He performed much better in March, posting a 10–5 record: only a loss to Kotoyuki on the final day prevented him from taking a fifth Fighting Spirit prize.[5] With both komusubi and both sekiwake having losing records in that tournament, Ikioi was promoted to sekiwake for the first time for the following May 2016 basho. He became the first sekiwake from Isenoumi stable since Tosanoumi was promoted in 1997.[6] He lost the rank after scoring only 4–11, but he earned a first kinboshi or gold star for a yokozuna upset in the July tournament in Nagoya, defeating Hakuhō on the ninth day.[7] He earned his second kinboshi in defeating Kakuryū in January 2017, and his third in beating Hakuhō again in the following tournament in March.[8] In March 2018 he finished with an 11–4 record, but a defeat on the final day meant he missed out on a share of the Fighting Spirit Prize.[9] Ikioi has not missed a bout since his professional debut, and he fought his 500th consecutive makuuchi match in May 2018. In March 2019 he was suffering from cellulitis and a fever but did not pull out of the tournament, not wanting to disappoint the fans in his native Osaka Prefecture, and won just two bouts. He was demoted to the jūryō division for the May 2019 tournament, bringing to an end his streak of 585 consecutive top division matches since November 2012.

In June 2018 it was revealed that he is the owner of the Kasugayama elder stock, indicating that he intends to stay in sumo after his retirement.[10]

Fighting style

Ikioi favours a migiyotsu (right hand inside, left hand outside grip on his opponent′s mawashi). His favourite winning kimarite is a straightforward yorikiri, or force out. He also regularly employs oshidashi, or push out, and sukuinage, or scoop throw.

Personal life

Ikioi is engaged to professional golfer Mamiko Higa. The couple met at a sumo event in 2015. It was reported that they intended to marry on their mutual birthdays on October 11, 2018,[11] but this did not go ahead and no date has been set.

Career record
Ikioi Shōta[12]
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
2005 x (Maezumo) West Jonokuchi #22
4–3
 		 East Jonidan #122
7–0–PP
 		 West Sandanme #98
6–1
 		 East Sandanme #37
5–2
 
2006 West Sandanme #9
3–4
 		 West Sandanme #21
5–2
 		 East Makushita #56
5–2
 		 East Makushita #35
3–4
 		 East Makushita #46
4–3
 		 West Makushita #37
4–3
 
2007 East Makushita #29
3–4
 		 East Makushita #40
4–3
 		 East Makushita #36
4–3
 		 West Makushita #28
3–4
 		 East Makushita #37
3–4
 		 East Makushita #49
3–4
 
2008 East Makushita #57
5–2
 		 West Makushita #35
3–4
 		 West Makushita #44
3–4
 		 East Makushita #54
4–3
 		 East Makushita #43
3–4
 		 West Makushita #53
5–2
 
2009 West Makushita #37
4–3
 		 West Makushita #30
4–3
 		 West Makushita #23
4–3
 		 East Makushita #18
3–4
 		 East Makushita #25
2–5
 		 East Makushita #41
4–3
 
2010 East Makushita #35
5–2
 		 East Makushita #25
3–4
 		 West Makushita #30
5–2
 		 West Makushita #22
4–3
 		 West Makushita #14
6–1
 		 West Makushita #2
3–4
 
2011 East Makushita #5
3–4
 		 West Makushita #8
Tournament Cancelled
0–0–0		 West Makushita #8
3–4
 		 West Makushita #8
4–3
 		 East Makushita #3
5–2
 		 East Jūryō #14
12–3
Champion
 
2012 East Jūryō #3
10–5
 		 West Maegashira #14
5–10
 		 East Jūryō #2
8–7
 		 East Maegashira #16
7–8
 		 East Jūryō #1
11–4–P
 		 East Maegashira #10
9–6
 
2013 West Maegashira #5
8–7
 		 West Maegashira #3
4–11
 		 West Maegashira #9
9–6
 		 East Maegashira #5
9–6
 		 West Maegashira #1
5–10
 		 West Maegashira #6
11–4
F
2014 West Maegashira #2
6–9
 		 West Maegashira #4
7–8
 		 West Maegashira #5
11–4
F		 East Maegashira #1
5–10
 		 West Maegashira #5
10–5
 		 West Komusubi #1
6–9
 
2015 West Maegashira #2
1–14
 		 East Maegashira #13
8–7
 		 East Maegashira #10
10–5
 		 East Maegashira #3
2–13
 		 East Maegashira #12
11–4
F		 East Maegashira #4
12–3
F
2016 East Komusubi #1
5–10
 		 East Maegashira #4
10–5
 		 West Sekiwake #1
4–11
 		 West Maegashira #4
5–10
★		 West Maegashira #7
7–8
 		 West Maegashira #8
10–5
 
2017 West Maegashira #3
8–7
★		 West Maegashira #1
5–10
★		 West Maegashira #6
9–6
 		 East Maegashira #3
4–11
 		 West Maegashira #7
6–9
 		 West Maegashira #10
9–6
 
2018 West Maegashira #6
4–11
 		 East Maegashira #14
11–4
 		 West Maegashira #5
8–7
 		 East Maegashira #2
8–7
★		 East Maegashira #1
3–12
 		 East Maegashira #8
6–9
 
2019 West Maegashira #11
9–6
 		 West Maegashira #9
2–13
 		 West Jūryō #1
4–11
 		 West Jūryō #8
5–10
 		 West Jūryō #12
12–3
Champion
 		 East Jūryō #3
11–4–P
 
2020 West Maegashira #15
8–7
 		 West Maegashira #12
8–7
 		 West Maegashira #9
Tournament Cancelled
0–0–0		 West Maegashira #9
3–12
 		 x 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(s); P=Playoff(s)
Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi

Makuuchi ranks: Yokozuna — Ōzeki — Sekiwake — Komusubi — Maegashira
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See also

References
  1. "Wrestler quits after punching rival". Japan Times. 20 September 2006. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  2. "Sumo Wrestler Wins Through a Nosebleed". Wall St Journal. 22 September 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  3. staff (27 September 2015). "Kakuryu bounces back to grab elusive 2nd title". The Japan News by Yomiuri Shimbun.
  4. "Harumafuji wins Kyushu title despite final-day defeat". Japan Today. 22 November 2015. Archived from the original on 23 November 2015.
  5. "Hakuho wins 36th career title". Japan Today. 27 March 2016.
  6. "2016 May Grand Sumo Tournament Banzuke Topics". Japan Sumo Association. May 2016. Archived from the original on 1 May 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  7. "Sumo: Hakuho, Harumafuji stumble as Kisenosato catches big break". The Mainichi. 18 July 2016. Archived from the original on 20 July 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  8. "Hakuho suffers 2nd loss of Spring tourney – The Japan News". Japan News. 15 March 2017. Archived from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  9. "Sumo: Takayasu finishes strong with win over champion Kakuryu". The Mainichi. 26 March 2018. Archived from the original on 26 March 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  10. "Oyakata Gallery - List of Changes". Oyakata Gallery. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  11. "Mamiko Higa's fiance, Ikioi Shota, is a world-class Sumo wrestler". Golf News Net. 5 August 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  12. "Ikioi Shōta Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  • Ikioi Shōta's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage
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