Misplaced Pages

Nishikigi Tetsuya 錦木 徹也
Nishikigi in 2015
Personal information
Born	Tetsuya Kumagai (1990-08-25) 25 August 1990 (age 34) Morioka, Iwate, Japan
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	184 kg (406 lb)
Career
Stable	Isenoumi
Current rank	see below
Debut	March, 2006
Highest rank	Komusubi (September 2023)
Championships	1 Jūryō 1 Makushita
Special Prizes	Outstanding Performance (1) Fighting Spirit (1)
Gold Stars	2 (Kakuryū, Terunofuji)
* Up to date as of 24 September 2023.

Nishikigi Tetsuya (Japanese: 錦木 徹也, born 25 August 1990 as Tetsuya Kumagai (熊谷 徹也)) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Morioka. He made his debut in March 2006 and wrestles for Isenoumi stable. His highest rank has been komusubi and he has won championships at jūryō and makushita level.

Early life and sumo experience

Having met the former owner of the Isenoumi stable ex-sekiwake Fujinokawa, Kumagai heard about Yotsuguruma [ja], a sumo wrestler before him who is also from Iwate prefecture and it inspired him to join sumo himself. He joined this stable after graduating from a local Morioka city junior high school.

Nishikigi has extremely poor vision and always wears glasses when not practicing or competing, even wearing them for post-bout interviews. He has stated he is unable to see any fans in the crowd during tournaments which helps keep him from getting nervous.

Career

Early career

He first stepped onto the dohyō in March 2006. He joined sumo the same time as future top division wrestlers Tochinoshin, Sakaizawa, and Shōhōzan. He worked his way slowly up the ranks, earning sandanme division promotion in July 2008 and makushita in January 2010. However, he struggled in the third division and soon fell back to sandanme. Though he was soon back in makushita he languished at this level. He managed to contend for the makushita' championship in November 2010, where he lost in a multiple wrestler playoff, and won the championship in this division outright with a 6–1 record in November 2012. However, continuing mediocre performances kept him in the third division for four and a half years. During these struggling years, he took the ring name of Nishikigi. He was the first wrestler in 144 years to take this name. However, starting in September 2014, 4 consecutive 5-2 records propelled him to the salaried ranks of jūryō for the May 2015 tournament. Finding his stride, it took him a year to work his way up through jūryō and after recording ten wins in January 2016 he was promoted to the top division makuuchi for the first time.

Makuuchi promotion

In the top division, Nishikigi initially made little impact but nine wins in July followed by eight in September saw him promoted to a career high of maegashira 6. He then began to struggle and after three consecutive losing records he was demoted back to jūryō after the March tournament. Wrestling at jūryō 4 in May he lost his first two matches but in an unusually open division he entered the penultimate day on 8-5 in a seven-way tie for the lead. After beating Homarefuji he clinched the yūshō or championship on the final day with a victory over the veteran Aminishiki.

He was promoted back to makuuchi for the July 2017 tournament where he secured his majority of wins against losses on the last day with a defeat of Tokushōryū. He remained near the bottom of the makuuchi division for the next year, just barely avoiding demotion to jūryō before a 10–5 result in September 2018, coupled with a collapse in the form of higher-ranked wrestlers, saw him promoted to maegashira 3. Despite fears that he would be badly exposed at the rank and starting with four straight defeats he rallied to end with an 8–7 result and was promoted to a new career high of maegashira 2 for the January 2019 tournament. He won his first three matches in January, defeating ōzeki Gōeidō and Tochinoshin and earning his first kinboshi or yokozuna upset with a win over Kakuryū. He then had a default win over the retiring Kisenosato to stand undefeated on 4–0, but he lost seven in a row after that and finished with a 7–8 record.

Nishikigi did not manage a winning record in any tournament in 2019, and was demoted to the jūryō division after the November 2019 tournament. He secured 11 wins and 4 losses in the January 2020 tournament, enough for immediate promotion back to the makuuchi division. However, he then embarked on another run of losing records, and fell to near the bottom of the jūryō division by May 2021.

Three winning records from September 2021 to January 2022 saw him return to the top division for the March 2022 tournament. Having already achieved a majority of wins in the July 2022 tournament, he was forced to withdraw on Day 13 due to a COVID-19 outbreak at his stable. This was the first time since his debut in 2006 that he had withdrawn from a tournament, but his run of over 1000 consecutive career appearances will be allowed to continue as the Sumo Association do not regard a withdrawal due to COVID protocols through no fault of the wrestler as breaking a streak.

On the second day of the July 2023 tournament, Nishikigi, then ranked as maegashira 1, defeated yokozuna Terunofuji by suikuinage, thus winning his second kinboshi, the first in four years, and continuing his run of 10 wins in a row. Nishikigi would go on to defeat most of the wrestlers ranked above him in the first week. On the ninth day of the tournament, Nishikigi claimed an eighth victory in his match against former ōzeki Mitakeumi and maintained his position as one of the tournament leaders with only one defeat. With this victory, Nishikigi strengthened his case for promotion to san'yaku status, which would be the first of his career. After claiming his tenth victory over Endō, Nishikigi received positive feedback from JSA chairman Hakkaku, who praised his style which was compared to that of a yokozuna or an ōzeki, as well as his mental strength. Despite leading the tournament, Nishikigi nevertheless suffered crucial defeats in the final days of the tournament, particularly against makuuchi-newcomers Shōnannoumi (Day 12) and Hakuōhō (Day 13). On Day 14, he recorded a third defeat in a row to Ryūden, which took him out of the title race.

San'yaku

Nishikigi was rewarded with a promotion to the san'yaku rank of komusubi for the September 2023 tournament. Nishikigi took 103 tournaments to reach san'yaku–the third-slowest in sumo history behind Kumegawa (former Kotoinazuma), who needed 106 tournaments, and former Tamaryū, who needed 107. After the September banzuke was released Nishikigi was happy to see his name listed under the new rank, telling reporters that he wanted to say "I did my best" rather than say "I was late." His stablemaster Isenoumi said that the promotion was the result of Nishikigi's own training. He also said that while Nishikigi may be a veteran at 33 years of age, he feels young, joking that he finally learned to sumo when he was 31 or 32.

At the September sōken on 2 September, however, Nishikigi injured his right calf after a butsukari training session with former ōzeki Shōdai. Commenting on the state of his calf, he ruled out withdrawal from the September tournament, which begins on 10 September. During the March 2024 tournament, Nishikigi, who had once again been promoted to the rank of komusubi, bounced back and again defeated Yokozuna Terunofuji on the first day of the tournament.

Fighting style

Nishikigi was initially an oshi-sumo specialist who preferred pushing and thrusting at his opponents to fighting on the mawashi or belt, but has developed his yotsu-sumo technique to become a more balanced competitor, his favourite grip being hidari yotsu (left arm inside, right arm outside) . His Japan Sumo Association profile shows that 66 percent of his victories over the last six tournaments have been by either yori-kiri (force out) or oshi-dashi (push out).

Personal life

Nishikigi was married in September 2018, with the reception being held in February 2020. He has a daughter born in November 2019.

Career record

See also

• List of sumo tournament second division champions
• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of active sumo wrestlers
• List of komusubi
• List of active gold star earners
• Active special prize winners

References

1. "Nishikigi after his first win says that he can't see anything without his glasses, so is never nervous". Nikkan sports. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
2. ^ "Nishikigi Tetsuya". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
3. "2015 May sumo info". Baseball Magazine. p.53: Baseball Magazine. May 2015.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
4. "Sumo: New rankings put spotlight on endurance, comebacks". The Mainichi. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
5. "Nishikigi and Tamawashi - fourth place in history with 1448 consecutive appearances - are absent for the first time as a corona outbreak occurs in their stables". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 22 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
6. "``Nishiki Kinsei becomes trending for the first time in 4 years. First defeat of Terunofuji echoes "I am impressed by the way he won."". Sports Nippon (in Japanese). 10 July 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
7. "Sumo: Hoshoryu keeps share of lead, Kirishima takes loss on Day 8". Kyodo News. 16 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
8. "自己最速勝ち越しに錦木「良いですねぇ～」所要103場所と歴代３位のスロー新三役に大きく前進" [Nishikigi's fastest win was good - 103 tournaments and the third slowest ever, a big step forward for the new san'yaku.]. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 17 July 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
9. "錦木は横綱相撲？八角理事長「横綱、大関の安定感」「大化けだよね」「持っている」お褒めの言葉" [Nishikigi shows 'yokozuna-zumo'? Chairman Hakkaku praised him, saying, "he has the stability of a yokozuna and ozeki," "he's a big monster," and "he's got it."]. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 19 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
10. "Sumo: Nishikigi gets shock loss, Hokutofuji rejoins at top in Nagoya". Kyodo News. 20 July 2023. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
11. "19歳伯桜鵬が優勝争いトップの錦木を破って10勝目　貴花田以来31年ぶりの10代Ｖが現実味" (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports. 21 July 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
12. "伯桜鵬、109年ぶり新入幕V王手！北勝富士下してトップタイ浮上　豊昇龍も3敗で並走" (in Japanese). Sports Nippon. 21 July 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
13. "33歳錦木の小結昇進は史上３位のスロー出世「記録に名前が残ることはうれしい」初優勝へも意欲" (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports. 28 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
14. "稽古総見で新小結・錦木が右ふくらはぎ付近を負傷　「肉離れだと思う」「どうにか治す」" (in Japanese). Sports Hochi. 2 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
15. "照ノ富士も負けた…大相撲春場所初日から"大波乱"1横綱2大関が痛恨の黒星発進" (in Japanese). Sports Nippon. 10 March 2024. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
16. "Rikishi Profile – Nishikigi Tetsuya". Japan Sumo Association. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
17. "錦木が結婚「横綱目指す」７歳年上で長身の健康美人". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 29 October 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
18. Withdrew on Day 13 due to COVID protocols

External links

• Nishikigi Tetsuya's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage

• 1990 births
• Living people
• Japanese sumo wrestlers
• People from Morioka, Iwate
• Sumo people from Iwate Prefecture
• Komusubi