Takanonami
| Takanonami Sadahiro | |
|---|---|
| 貴ノ浪 貞博 | |
 |
|
| Personal information | |
| Born | Sadahiro Namioka October 27, 1971 Aomori, Japan |
| Died | June 20, 2015 (aged 43) |
| Height | 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) |
| Weight | 160 kg (350 lb) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Futagoyama |
| Record | 777-559-13 |
| Debut | March, 1987 |
| Highest rank | Ōzeki (March 1994) |
| Retired | May, 2004 |
| Championships | 2 (Makuuchi) |
| Special Prizes | Fighting Spirit (3) |
| Gold Stars | 2 (Musashimaru) |
| * Up to date as of June 20, 2015. | |
Takanonami Sadahiro (born Sadahiro Namioka October 27, 1971 – June 20, 2015) was a Japanese sumo wrestler and coach from Aomori. He held sumo's second highest rank of ōzeki from 1994 until 2000 and won two tournament titles. He was a sumo coach from his retirement in 2004 until his death in 2015 at the age of 43.
Born in Misawa, Aomori, the young Namioka did sumo at elementary school, but did not initially consider it as a profession, intending to follow his father and work in local government. However, he was introduced to Fujishima Oyakata (the former Takanohana Kenshi) who was in Misawa to give a speech, and was persuaded to join Fujishima Stable.
Takanonami made his professional debut in 1987. He became an elite sekitori ranked wrestler in March 1991 when he was promoted to the second highest jūryō division, and he reached the top makuuchi division in November 1991. He led the race for the championship in the first week of the tournament, the first debutant to do so, and defeated Kotonishiki, the winner of the previous tournament. However he started losing in the second week and finished with a score of 8-7. He earned his first special prize in his first tournament at komusubi rank in May 1993. After a 13-2 runner-up performance from sekiwake rank in January 1994, he earned promotion to ōzeki simultaneously with Musashimaru. His two tournament victories in January 1996 and November 1997 both came after playoff wins against stablemate Takanohana. He normally avoided having to meet Takanohana, as well as other top division stars such as Wakanohana, Takatōriki and Akinoshima, as they were all members of Futagoyama stable, a large and dominant heya which had merged with Fujishima in 1993. At his peak he consistently scored 11 or 12 wins in a tournament and was runner-up three times in 1996. He was ranked as an ōzeki for 37 tournaments in total. He lost the rank at the end of 1999 after two make-koshi or losing scores, but was promoted back after scoring ten wins as a sekiwake in January 2000: the first wrestler to achieve this since Mienoumi in 1976. However, after two more losing scores in March and May 2000 he was demoted once again, and was never able to return.
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