Two wrestlers will be in the sekitori (Makuuchi + Juryo) ranks for the first time in Fukuoka: Gokushindo and Tomokaze. They enter the paid ranks following strong performances in the Makushita joi—Gokushindo won the 3rd-division yusho with a perfect 7-0 record from Ms5, while Tomokaze went 5-2 from Ms4. Tomokaze’s promotion was a surprise, as Daiseido (Ms2, 4-3) should have been ahead of him in the promotion queue according to historical precedents.
While the two debutants are of similar age (22 and 23), they took very different paths to Juryo. Tomokaze has had something of a meteoric rise. After a university sumo career, he entered professional sumo in May of 2017, debuting in maezumo, where he went 3-0. I’m not sure why he did not start higher up the banzuke, as some collegiate wrestlers do—either he wasn’t sufficiently successful in college, or he chose to enter at the bottom of the sumo ladder. After that, he flew through the three lower divisions in one tournament apiece (Jonokuchi 7-0 Yusho; Jonidan 6-1; Sandanmne 7-0 Yusho) before posting 5 consecutive kachi-koshi records in Makushita to earn a spot in Juryo. That’s right—he has yet to post a losing record.
Gokushindo, on the other hand, entered sumo all the way back in 2012 as a 15-year-old. It took him a few tournaments to get established in Sandanme, where he spent almost three years before making his Makushita debut in 2015. He also lost all or part of three tournaments to injuries. After bouncing back and forth between Sandanme and Makushita, he finally established himself in the third-highest division in May of 2017—the same tournament that saw Tomokaze make his maezumo debut. He worked his way to the top of the division, flopping in his first chance at promotion by going 3-4 at Ms4 in March, missing out on promotion despite a 6-1 record at Ms7 in May, and failing again from Ms2 in July (3-4) before finally succeeding in emphatic fashion with a zensho yusho.
It will be interesting to watch how the two men fare in the sekitori ranks. Will they make it to the top division? Who will get there first?
Are you planning to redo your Juryo banzuke prediction with this in mind?
With what in mind? The new guys are on there already…
Your prediction has Gokushindo, Tomokaze, and Toyonoshima being promoted, while this post says it’s just the previous two.
…OH. This post was just about first-time Sekitori, and Toyonoshima has been up there before. Sorry, ignore this!
No worries. Also, it’s not a prediction—changes in status (in this case, joining/rejoining the sekitori ranks) are announced shortly after the basho.
Gokushindo is relatively light. I think with those long drawn out fights like he had last basho, he will struggle in Juryo a bit. I think Tomokaze will do better next basho. A kachikoshi will be a tall task for both of them.
If any or both make it to Makuuchi, I too think that Tomokaze will be first. Gokushindo will have to gain quite some wight or significantly expand his arsenal to deal with the bigger boys. Not impossible, but will take him some time.
I think this is correct… When a University champion achieves a result which qualifies them to enter at sandanme or makushita they have a year to cash in. Wrestlers who qualify in the early years of their course sometimes choose to focus on their studies and complete their degree rather than go straight into sumo. That’s what Shodai did; maybe Tomokaze did the same thing.