Kasugaō
| Kasugaō Katsumasa | |
|---|---|
| 春日王 克昌 | |
 |
|
| Personal information | |
| Born | Kim Sung Tak July 1, 1977 South Korea |
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) |
| Weight | 154 kg (340 lb; 24.3 st) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Kasugayama |
| Record | 464-452-11 |
| Debut | November, 1998 |
| Highest rank | Maegashira 3 (March, 2007) |
| Retired | April, 2011 |
| Championships | 2 (Jūryō) 1 (Makushita) |
| Special Prizes | Fighting Spirit (1) |
| * Up to date as of Jan 2011. | |
Kasugaō Katsumasa 春日王 克昌 (born July 1, 1977 as Kim Sung Tak 김성택) is a former sumo wrestler from Incheon, South Korea. He was the first sumo wrestler to reach the top makuuchi division officially representing South Korea. (Several other top wrestlers in the past have hid a Korean or half-Korean background). He joined sumo in 1998, making the top division for the first time in 2003. His highest rank was maegashira 3. In September 2009, he acquired Japanese citizenship. In April 2011 he was ordered to retire by the Japan Sumo Association after an investigation found him guilty of match-fixing.
His father died when he was just three years old and his mother brought the family up alone, working days and nights as a cleaner. He went to the same high school as South Korean footballer Kim Nam-Il (and they remain very close friends). After winning a national Ssireum competition in 1998, he was invited by the stablemaster of the recently opened Kasugayama stable to come to Japan. He saw the opportunity to support his family back in Korea, and took a leave of absence from his university.
He made his professional debut in November 1998. For his first couple of tournaments he fought under the shikona of Kimu, but this was soon changed to Kasugaō, the name adapted from both his stable and his stablemaster's old fighting name of Kasugafuji.
Kasugaō reached the jūryō division in July 2002 and the top makuuchi division just three tournaments later in January 2003, after winning the second division championship in November 2002 by defeating Asasekiryū on the last day. On the same day Asashōryū won the makuuchi division title, making it the first time that two foreign born wrestlers had won the top two divisions in the same tournament. Kasugaō sent all his prize money of two million yen home to his mother.
...
Wikipedia