Hōshōryū Tomokatsu (Japanese: 豊昇龍 智勝; born Sugarragchaagiin Byambasüren; May 22, 1999) is a Mongolian professional sumo wrestler and the 74th yokozuna. Wrestling for Tatsunami stable, he made his professional debut in January 2018. He is especially known for his throws; Mongolian sumo wrestlers are often skilled throwers, reflecting the skills used in Mongolian wrestling.
Hōshōryū won his first top division title in July 2023, which subsequently promoted him to the rank of ōzeki. In the November 2024 tournament he finished runner-up with a strong 13–2 record, followed up by winning a second top-division title the next meet in January 2025. As a result he was promoted to sumo's highest rank of yokozuna. For the following four months Hōshōryū would serve as the sole yokozuna until soon being joined at the rank by rival Ōnosato. He is the nephew of the 68th yokozuna Asashōryū, who won an exceptional 25 championships and was the first Mongolian to reach the sport's highest rank.
Early life and sumo background
Byambasüren was born in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, as the second son of former yokozuna Asashōryū's eldest brother (Sugarragchaa Dolgorsürengiin), who has a background as a bökh wrestler. Described as a "city kid", he spent all his summer vacations, particularly long in Mongolia (from June to September) camping in yurts. As a child, he was naturally athletic and learned to ride horses at the age of three. At the age of five, he began taking lessons in basketball and judo at the same club as fellow future-ōzeki Kirishima, saying that together they "were like friends". Born into a wrestling family, Byambasüren often socialized with other professional sumo wrestlers at dinner parties, notably with 73rd yokozuna Terunofuji, long before becoming a professional himself. He also watched his uncle's matches on television, and developed a great respect for him. Although he was not particularly fond of wrestling, he started taking bökh lessons at the age of 11 and achieved some local successes.
Upon graduation from middle school, he was scouted from Mongolia by Tomohiro Ōsawa, the coach of Japan's NSSU Kashiwa High School sumo club, who visited the country to scout for international sports students. There, he was recognized because his coach saw his look, similar to his famous uncle's "who always seemed to be fighting something". Although he did not feel like wrestling yet, he decided to give in to temptation and took a trip to Japan. He was finally recruited and attended Kashiwa High School in Chiba Prefecture, along future professional sumo wrestlers Ōshōma and Asahakuryū. There, he first joined the wrestling club, saying he was afraid of sumo, but in his first year he took part in a school trip and visited the Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo and became interested in the sport. After consulting with his uncle he committed to trying sumo at the high school level. Though he had no previous experience, he quickly started getting good results in amateur sumo tournaments and was seen as having great potential. In his third year, he was defeated by Tottori Jōhoku High School's wrestler Amartuvshin Amarsanaa at the Inter-High School Championships, allowing Amartuvshin to become the first foreign-born high school-level yokozuna in history.
Hōshōryū joined Tatsunami stable after high school. During this time, he was in regular contact with his uncle who gave him such advice as "build on your own strengths" and "don't put on weight quickly or you'll risk injury." Hōshōryū first stepped into the ring professionally in January 2018. In his maezumō debut, he was defeated by fellow debutant Naya, who was also garnering attention as the grandson of the greatly respected yokozuna Taihō. Because of their strong family ties to sumo, he commented that he and Naya (who later changed his shikona to Ōhō) felt close to each other. In his first official tournament on the banzuke in March 2018, Hōshōryū was close to winning the jonokuchi division championship after scoring six consecutive victories, but was defeated again by Naya, who went on to win the championship. Since then, the two wrestlers have maintained a certain rivalry.
In Hōshōryū's second tournament, he took the jonidan championship with a perfect record. On his debut in the sandanme division, he went 6–1 when scoring a win in his final match against Hiradoumi, securing promotion to the makushita division. During the summer tours in June, Hōshōryū was unusually chosen by yokozuna Hakuhō to participate in a training session, showing that he took him under his wing after helping to train him when he was still in high school. In his first tournament in the makushita division, he recorded 3 consecutive victories before recording 3 defeats. In his 7th bout, he was paired against Naya, who also had a score of 3–3, putting both wrestlers in a position of potential demotion to the sandanme division. Hōshōryū defeated Naya by kubinage, the latter suffering the first make-koshi record of his career and being logically relegated to the lower division for the November tournament of the same year.
In January 2019, Hōshōryū faced former makuuchi wrestler Ura, who was rising through the ranks after being absent from the ring since the September 2017 tournament. Although Hōshōryū defeated him by kakenage, Ura injured his knee again during the match and had to withdraw from the tournament before missing another four consecutive tournaments due to injury. Hōshōryū later said he was nervous about facing a former maegashira but felt responsible for the injury, going to the arena infirmary after the match to ask Ura for forgiveness. In May, Hōshōryū also recorded an eighth positive record and had a remarkable match against Kotonowaka, where observers noticed the similarities between Hōshōryū's technique and that of his uncle. In July 2019, Hōshōryū, then ranked as makushita 2, faced competition against opponents who had mostly already been ranked in the jūryō division. During this tournament he was called upon to wrestle in this upper-division with a match against jūryō Kizakiumi, where he suffered a defeat. That month, he suffered his only losing tournament in his rise through the lower divisions.
Hōshōryū quickly bounced back the following tournament in September 2019 and, with a winning record of 4–3 (kachi-koshi), he earned jūryō promotion for the November tournament in Fukuoka along with Kotoshōhō. At a press conference, Hōshōryū vowed to surpass his uncle's 25 championships. He also received a kimono from his uncle at the time of his promotion. In his jūryō debut, Hōshōryū began the tournament with a victory over Akiseyama, but suffered a make-koshi record on Day 14, with a loss to Sōkokurai. Despite this setback he logged two 8–7 records in the next two consecutive tournaments. In the July 2020 tournament (held in Tokyo instead of the usual Nagoya due to COVID concerns) he took part in a rare situation, where six wrestlers were lined up for the championship with ten wins each. In the preliminary stages of the playoff, he defeated Kyokutaisei. The race for the title culminated in a three-man playoff (tomoesen) between three members of Tatsunami stable. This playoff comprised himself, Akua, and Meisei. Bouts between stablemates are only allowed in the case of playoffs, where two or more wrestlers end up with the same record, and is a rare occurrence. Hōshōryū was defeated by former makuuchi wrestler Meisei, who went on to defeat Akua to take the championship.
Hōshōryū's performance in July 2020 was enough to propel him into the top-tier makuuchi division for the September 2020 tournament. He is the 50th foreigner to reach the top division, and the 27th Mongolian. In his first match in the division, he won his first victory in the opening match, beating Ichinojō with the surprising kimarite (winning technique) of yorikiri, the two wrestlers having a 70 kg (150 lb) difference at the time.
In the July 2021 tournament Hōshōryū had his best result in the top division up to that point. On Day 11, he notably defeated ōzeki Shōdai by yoritaoshi, his fastest win to date. In total, he won ten bouts during the tournament, and was awarded his first special prize, the ginō-shō (Technique prize). After the tournament, he also received public congratulations from the executives of the Japan Sumo Association, including Chairman Hakkuku and Nishikido. In October of the same year, Sports Hōchi reported that after the July 2021 tournament he received a comment from the winner of the championship (yokozuna Hakuhō) who passed the baton to him in the hope that he would occupy the top of the sumo world. His performance saw him promoted to a new highest rank of Maegashira 1 for September, but in that tournament he had to withdraw on Day 5 with only one win because of tonsillitis. He returned on Day 8 and won four of his remaining eight matches.