As Josh pointed out before Nagoya, Miyagino heya has a few other interesting rikishi in addition to the mighty Hakuho. One person of great and growing fascination is Enho (炎鵬).
When you bag a yusho, they interview you on NHK! So above is Enho looking very happy and delighted to ace his second basho.
Enho has been in sumo for really 2 basho, plus one where he was doing the introductory Maezumo “lets make sure you know what sumo is” sessions. He has won the junior league yusho for each division he has faced. That translates into the Jonokuchi yusho in May, and the Jonidan yusho in Nagoya. Yes, thus far, Enho is undefeated.
Of course this won’t last, but it’s quite an amazing start to his life in grand sumo. Although he attended Kanazawa Gakuin University, he entered sumo at the bottom, rather than at a higher division as is common for some university rikishi.
For an example of his sumo, we have a video below from sumo media saint, One and Only, where Enho faces a much taller and heavier Masunoyama on the final day in Nagoya. It was not even close.
It’s likely that this guy will be in Sandanme as soon as Aki. We will continue to watch his progress and wish him good fortune and good health.
Why are all of Hakuho’s “disciples” so scrawny? They like them lean and athletic in Miyagino…
I think they just prefer their rikishi to put on muscle rather than fat… And it seems like the guy is totally new to Sumo, with that zanbara hair. The interviewer asked him if he has gotten used to heya life already.
Hakuho’s first personal deshi was Yamaguchi though… I don’t think he really has a type, but perhaps whatever it is that he tells them about his coaching/teaching methodology or his personal experiences resonates strongly with undersized guys.
I also had the pleasure of meeting this young rikishi while I was in Japan. He is another one that was very kind and gracious to fans. He is already immensely popular, with some of my friends having followed him since his University days.
I managed to watch him live a few times, and there were moments I could have sworn I was watching Ishiura, as he went in low at the Tachiai. He also has great power in his legs and a very good ring sense.
That new to professional sumo and already that good? Wow