Hakurozan Yūta

Sumo wrestler infobox


wrestlername = 白露山 佑太 Hakurozan Yūta
realname = Batraz Feliksovich Boradzov
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1982|02|6
placeofbirth = Russia
height = height|meters=1.89
weight = convert|137|kg|lb|abbr=on|lk=on
heya = Kitanoumi, formerly Hatachiyama
rank =
record = 233-218-0
debut = May 2002
highestrank = Maegashira 2 (July 2006)
retireddate = September, 2008
yushos =
prizes =
goldstars =
update = September 2008

Hakurozan Yūta (born February 6, 1982 as Batraz Feliksovich Baradzov _ru. Батраз Феликсович Борадзов, in Vladikavkaz, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania in the Russian Federation) is a former sumo wrestler. The highest rank he reached is "maegashira" 2. His older brother is also a former sumo wrestler, under the name of Rohō of Ōtake stable.

Career

Hakurozan began wrestling at the age of 14, winning the world junior championship aged 16. He started sumo aged 18, winning the Moscow over 100kg championship.

He came to Japan in February 2002 with his brother. They had intended to join the same stable, but sumo regulations limit the number of foreign wrestlers to one per stable, so Batraz joined Hatachiyama stable while Soslan entered Ōtake stable. As with his brother, his "shikona" contains the character 露, which can mean "Russia". Hatachiyama stable folded upon the death of its stablemaster, former "ōzeki" Hokutenyū, and Hakurozan joined the Kitanoumi stable.

Hakurozan fought his first bout in May 2002, rising to "jūryō" in September 2004, and "makuuchi" in July 2005. After a 10-5 result in May 2006 he reached "maegashira" 2, but a disastrous 2-13 the following tournament took him down to "maegashira" 10. He clung on to his top division status with an 8-7 mark at" maegashira" 14 in January 2007, but a poor 5-10 record in March meant he was demoted back to "jūryō" for the May 2007 tournament. He achieved nine wins there, which was enough to earn promotion to the top division in July. However, hampered by chronic knee problems, he could manage only three wins in the November 2007 tournament and was demoted to the second division once again. Scraping by with two 8-7 marks in the first two tournaments of 2008, he returned to "makuuchi" at "maegashira" 15 in May. Once again he could not maintain his top division ranking, only managing to win four matches.

Hakurozan often relied on sidestepping at the "tachi-ai," like his brother. He frequently employed pull-down techniques such as "hataki-komi" and "hiki-otoshi". [cite web|author=|title=Top Ten Techniques Used By Hakurozan During The Last Six Tournaments|publisher=Japan Sumo Association|url=http://sumo.goo.ne.jp/eng/ozumo_meikan/rikishi_joho/rikishi.php?A=2487|date=|accessdate=2008-05-27]

Cannabis scandal and dismissal

On September 2, 2008, he and his brother Rohō had a positive test result for cannabis. [cite web|url=http://ca.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idCAT12793120080902|title=Two sumo wrestlers test positive for marijuana|publisher=Reuters|date=2008-09-02|accessdate=2008-09-02] This test occurred less than two weeks after fellow Russian Wakanohō was sacked after being arrested for cannabis possession, and the surprise inspection was taken on the 69 wrestlers, all "jūryō" and higher ranked wrestlers including two "yokozuna". [cite web|title= Roho, brother deny smoking dope|publisher=Yomiuri Shimbun|url=http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/sports/20080904TDY01306.htm|date=2008-09-04|accessdate=2008-09-04] Although the Metropolitan Police Department have questioned the two wrestlers and searched their rooms, it was not immediately clear if any further legal action would be taken because it is not illegal to be found to have used it in the Japanese law. [cite web|title= Russian sumo wrestlers expelled for marijuana |publisher=Associated Press|url=http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_JAPAN_SUMO_SCANDAL_ASOL-?SITE=YOMIURI&SECTION=HOSTED_ASIA&TEMPLATE=ap_national.html|date=2008-09-08|accessdate=2008-09-08]

On September 6, Hakurozan and Rohō failed a second, more detailed set of doping tests. [cite web|title= Kitanoumi stays mum over tests|publisher=Yomiuri Shimbun|url=http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20080908TDY02306.htm|date=2008-09-08|accessdate=2008-09-08]

On September 8, the Japan Sumo Association held a meeting of the board of directors and decided on the dismissals of Rohō and Hakurozan. [cite web|title=Japan bans Russian sumo wrestlers|publisher=CNN|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/09/08/japan.sumo.ap/index.html|date=2008-09-08|accessdate=2008-09-09] [cite web|title=Kitanoumi resigns over pot scandals / JSA kicks out 2 Russian sibling sumo wrestlers|publisher=Yomiuri Shimbun|url=http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20080909TDY01304.htm|date=2008-09-09|accessdate=2008-09-09] Both wrestlers have now moved out of their respective stables but continue to deny any wrongdoing. Hakurozan has said they will sue the Prevention Committee responsible for the tests.

Top division record

References

ee also

*Glossary of sumo terms
*List of past sumo wrestlers

External links

*Japanese Sumo Association Biography [http://sumo.goo.ne.jp/eng/ozumo_meikan/rikishi_joho/rikishi_2487.html (English)] [http://sumo.goo.ne.jp/ozumo_meikan/rikishi_joho/rikishi_2487.html (Japanese)]
* [http://www.fsinet.or.jp/~sumo/profile/1/20050702.htm complete biography and basho results (Japanese)]