Kitakachidoki Hayato
| Kitakachidoki Hayato | |
|---|---|
| 北勝鬨 準人 | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | Hayato Kuga January 1, 1966 Obihiro, Hokkaidō, Japan |
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) |
| Weight | 148 kg (326 lb) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Isenoumi |
| Record | 708-731-22 |
| Debut | May, 1981 |
| Highest rank | Maegashira 3 (March, 1994) |
| Retired | September, 2000 |
| Championships | 1 (Makushita) |
Kitakachidoki Hayato (born 1 January 1966 as Hayato Kuga) is a former sumo wrestler from Obihiro, Hokkaidō, Japan. He made his professional debut in 1981, and reached the top division in 1989. His highest rank was maegashira 3. After retirement he became an elder in the Japan Sumo Association. He took over as head coach at Isenoumi stable, when former head coach Fujinokawa reached mandatory retirement age in September 2011.
He was born in Obihiro, the son of a lorry driver. At school he was a soccer goalkeeper. He made his professional debut in May 1981, recruited by Isenoumi stable. He won the makushita division championship in November 1986 with a perfect 7–0 record and was promoted to the sekitori ranks after that tournament. He had been using his family name of Kuga as his ring name, but upon his promotion he was given the shikona of Kitakachidoki, or "northern battle-cry," a reference to his Hokkaidō birthplace in the north of the country. He had few other wrestlers in his stable at a similar rank to him (former maegashira Hattori Yuji being forced to retire through injury around that time) and he had to go to other stables in his Tokitsukaze ichimon or stable group to find quality training partners.
He reached the top makuuchi division for the first time in January 1989, but was demoted back to the second juryo division after only one tournament. He did not establish himself as a top division regular until 1991. He fought in makuuchi for 49 tournaments in total, with a 331–389 win/loss record. He never managed to reach a sanyaku rank, his highest position in the banzuke being maegashira 3 in March 1994. He was also unable to defeat a yokozuna or win a special prize. His final appearance in the top division was in May 1998, although he continued to compete in the juryo division for two years after that. His demotion meant there were no longer any Hokkaidō natives in the top division, a remarkable decline considering that in the early 1990s there were three yokozuna (Chiyonofuji, Hokutoumi, and Onokuni) from Hokkaidō on the banzuke.
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