Aotsurugi Kenta
# Aotsurugi Kenta

Aotsurugi Kenta (born 16 December 1982 as Tevita Lato Taufa) is a former professional sumo wrestler from Tongatapu, Tonga. He made his debut in 2001 but had many injury problems. In 2006, he obtained Japanese citizenship, adopting the official name of Tebita Togawa. He retired in May 2009.

## Career

As an amateur he competed in the lightweight category at the Junior World Sumo Championships in 2000, just missing out on a bronze medal. He made his professional debut in March 2001, joining the small Tagonoura stable. His first shikona or fighting name was Hisanoumi. He reached as high as sandanme 24 in the fourth highest division in November 2004, but injury meant he was not able to participate in any tournaments from November 2005 until September 2006. As a result, he fell off the banzuke (ranking list) completely in July 2006.

He finally returned to the ring in November 2006 and fought three maezumo (pre-sumo) bouts – effectively beginning his career all over again from the very bottom. He won all three bouts. At the end of 2006 he acquired Japanese citizenship. This allowed the Tagonoura stable to circumvent the Sumo Association's "one foreigner per heya" rule and recruit another Tongan. He reappeared on the banzuke in January 2007, ranked at jonokuchi 29. He then took the jonokuchi championship with a 6–1 record. By May 2007 he had progressed to jonidan 20 where he turned in another fine 6–1 score. This earned him promotion back to sandanme for July. In his first tournament in sandanme since September 2005 he could manage only a 2–5 score. In the September 2007 tournament, despite missing his first bout, he went on to record five wins and just one loss.

At the end of 2007 he changed his shikona from Hisanoumi Taiyō to Aotsurugi Kenta. His score of 4–3 at Sandanme 25 in the September 2008 tournament pushed him up to a new highest rank of Sandanme 12 for November 2008 and he reached the top of the division in the January 2009 tournament. He scored three wins against four losses at Sandanme 1 in that tournament. He missed the May 2009 tournament, and announced his retirement from sumo. Although he had had knee problems in the past, his stablemaster Tagonoura Oyakata (the former Kushimaumi) said that he had simply lost the will to fight.

## Career record

Aotsurugi Kenta :

| 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 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2001 | x | (Maezumo) | East Jonokuchi #25 5–2 | East Jonidan #95 4–3 | East Jonidan #74 3–4 | West Jonidan #92 4–3 |
| 2002 | West Jonidan #66 4–3 | West Jonidan #42 3–4 | East Jonidan #62 5–2 | West Jonidan #22 3–4 | West Jonidan #45 5–2 | West Jonidan #6 2–5 |
| 2003 | East Jonidan #40 4–3 | West Jonidan #18 3–4 | East Jonidan #38 4–3 | West Jonidan #16 4–3 | East Sandanme #98 5–2 | West Sandanme #61 1–6 |
| 2004 | West Sandanme #94 5–2 | West Sandanme #60 2–5 | West Sandanme #86 5–2 | East Sandanme #53 4–3 | East Sandanme #36 4–3 | East Sandanme #24 1–6 |
| 2005 | West Sandanme #56 4–3 | East Sandanme #38 3–4 | East Sandanme #55 5–2 | West Sandanme #28 1–2–4 | West Sandanme #65 4–3 | East Sandanme #51 Sat out due to injury 0–0–7 |
| 2006 | West Jonidan #11 Sat out due to injury 0–0–7 | West Jonidan #81 Sat out due to injury 0–0–7 | West Jonokuchi #9 Sat out due to injury 0–0–7 | (Banzukegai) | (Banzukegai) | (Maezumo) |
| 2007 | West Jonokuchi #29 6–1–PP Champion | East Jonidan #61 5–2 | West Jonidan #20 6–1 | West Sandanme #57 2–5 | West Sandanme #81 5–1–1 | East Sandanme #51 4–2–1 |
| 2008 | East Sandanme #38 3–4 | West Sandanme #47 2–4–1 | West Sandanme #73 3–4 | West Sandanme #83 6–1 | East Sandanme #25 4–3 | East Sandanme #12 4–3 |
| 2009 | West Sandanme #1 3–4 | West Sandanme #15 4–3 | West Sandanme #4 Retired 0–0–7 | x | 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; P=Playoff(s) Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi Makuuchi ranks: Yokozuna — Ōzeki — Sekiwake — Komusubi — Maegashira |||||||
