Kakuryū Rikisaburō (Japanese: 鶴竜 力三郎; pronounced [kaꜜkɯɾʲɯː ɾiki̥saꜜbɯɾoː], born August 10, 1985 as Mangaljalavyn Anand Mongolian: Мангалжалавын Ананд, Mongolian pronunciation: [ˈmaŋ.ɢəɮ.dʒə.ɮə.w̜iːŋ ˈa.nənt]) is a former professional sumo wrestler from Sükhbaatar Province, Mongolia. He was a member of the top makuuchi division from November 2006 until his retirement in March 2021, and was the 71st yokozuna in history.
He reached the third highest sekiwake rank in July 2009, and in March 2012 he secured promotion to the second highest rank of ōzeki after finishing runner-up to yokozuna Hakuhō and accumulating a total of 33 wins in his previous three tournaments. After scoring 14 wins against one loss in both of the first two tournaments of 2014, and claiming the yūshō in the second, he was promoted to yokozuna. He won his second tournament as a yokozuna, a playoff win over Terunofuji in September 2015, but did not win more than 12 bouts in a tournament at yokozuna rank until winning his third tournament in November 2016.
Injury problems meant that he was able to complete only one tournament in 2017 but he returned to fitness in 2018 and won his fourth and fifth championships in March and May. He won a sixth championship in July 2019. He has also been a runner-up on eight occasions. In 2020 he obtained Japanese citizenship and changed his name to Mangarajarabu Ananda (マンガラジャラブ・アナンダ). He announced his retirement on March 24, 2021. He is an elder in the Japan Sumo Association under the name of Otowayama (音羽山).
Early life and sumo background
Kakuryū Rikisaburō was born August 10, 1985, as Mangaljalavyn Anand. His father was a university professor. He grew up dreaming of professional basketball, not sumo. At age 14, he decided to devote himself to sumo after seeing a tournament featuring fellow Mongolians Kyokutenhō and Kyokushūzan on TV. He wrote a letter about his desires and had a friend translate it into Japanese. He then mailed the letter to several stables in Japan. Izutsu stable's head was impressed and invited Kakuryū to Japan. Kakuryū's family had no background in Mongolian wrestling, and he had no experience in wrestling before coming to Japan.
When Kakuryū joined Izutsu stable, he weighed just 65 kg (143 lb) and his oyakata former sekiwake Sakahoko joked he was better suited to be the stable's tokoyama (hairdresser) than a wrestler. Kakuryū made his professional debut at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament in November 2001, then weighing 82 kg (181 lb). After reaching the fourth highest sandanme division fairly quickly, he struggled, being demoted back to jonidan twice. After 17 tournaments, he finally won the sandanme championship in July 2004 with a 7–0 record and earned promotion to the makushita division.
Kakuryū first reached sekitori status in November 2005 upon promotion to the jūryō division but fell short with a 5–10 record, dropping back to makushita. He returned to the second division in March 2006 and reached the top makuuchi division that November, after scoring 9 wins at the rank of jūryō 1 in the previous tournament. He was the eighth Mongolian to make makuuchi after Kyokushūzan, Kyokutenhō, Asashōryū, Asasekiryū, Hakuhō, Harumafuji and Tokitenkū. He was the first (and to date only) wrestler from the stable to make the top division since the current stablemaster took control in 1994. One of seven wrestlers to be promoted to makuuchi for that tournament, he made his debut halfway up the maegashira ranks at number 8, the highest since Miyabiyama began at maegashira 7 in March 1999. He came through with a solid 8–7 record.
After a strong 11–4 record in January 2008, which earned him his first sanshō for technique, Kakuryū was promoted to maegashira 1. He was forced to withdraw during the November 2008 tournament after spraining his knee, marking the first time in his career that he had missed any bouts. In March 2009 he produced a fine 10–5 record from the maegashira 1 ranking, defeating three ōzeki. He won his last eight matches after standing at 2–5 on the seventh day. He was awarded his second Technique Prize. Kakuryū made his san'yaku debut in the following tournament in May 2009 at the rank of komusubi. In a similar fashion to his previous tournament he recovered from 2–5 down to win seven of his last eight bouts and was rewarded with another Technique Prize.
In July 2009 Kakuryū was promoted to sekiwake. He was the first from his stable to do so since Terao in 1989. He was only able to win five bouts in his sekiwake debut and fell back to the maegashira ranks. He responded with a strong 11–4 score, earning his third Technique prize in four tournaments and fourth overall. He returned to the sekiwake rank for the November tournament and finished with a 7–8 record that kept him in the san'yaku ranks. Disappointing performances in his next three tournaments saw him slip to maegashira 6, but he responded by winning eleven bouts in July 2010, finishing as joint runner-up and winning his fifth Technique award. He returned to komusubi in September 2010 and moved up to sekiwake in November. On the final day of that tournament, he was defeated by fellow sekiwake Tochiōzan to finish 7–8.
Ranked at komusubi in the May 2011 "technical examination" tournament, Kakuryū finished runner-up for the second time with a 12–3 record, winning his sixth Technique prize. Promoted to sekiwake for the July tournament, he defeated three ōzeki and finished 10–5. In a strong position for possible promotion to ōzeki, Kakuryū started that next tournament 3–4. His final record of 9–6 was insufficient to earn a promotion.
In the January 2012 tournament, Kakuryū defeated yokozuna Hakuhō for the first time, and was awarded his first Outstanding Performance Prize. It was his first victory over a yokozuna in 27 attempts (previously he had been 0–20 against Hakuhō and 0–6 against Asashōryū).
In the March 2012 tournament held in Osaka, Kakuryū defeated Hakuhō for the second time in a row on Day 9, and entered the final day of the tournament one win ahead of the yokozuna at 13–1, his only loss thus far being to Kisenosato on Day 8. However, he was defeated by Gōeidō, and Hakuhō's defeat of Baruto ensured a playoff between the two Mongolians. Hakuhō gained revenge on Kakuryū to claim his 22nd tournament title. Although he missed out on his first championship, Kakuryū received prizes for Outstanding performance and Technique. Kakuryū said that inexperience cost him in his playoff against Hakuhō and that a tournament victory was "too soon for me." Kakuryū's 33 wins over three tournaments was, however, enough to grant him a promotion to ōzeki. The promotion marked the first time there were six active ōzeki simultaneously. It took him 62 tournaments from his professional debut to make ōzeki, which was the tenth slowest in sumo history, and the slowest of the nine foreigners who have made the rank.
After an unremarkable 2013, in which he scored no better than ten wins in any of the six tournaments, Kakuryū surprised many observers with a 14–1 performance in January 2014, defeating Hakuhō in their regulation match and only losing the title in a playoff against him on the final day. It was the fourth runner-up title of his career. He followed it up with a 14–1 record in March 2014, defeating both Hakuhō and Harumafuji en route to the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament title. It was his first top division yūshō. Having satisfied the minimum requirement of two consecutive championships or "the equivalent", the Yokozuna Deliberation Council unanimously recommended his promotion on 24 March, which was confirmed by the Japan Sumo Association on 26 March. Kakuryū was the first to achieve the rank since Harumafuji in 2012, the fourth Mongolian to do so, the sixth foreign-born yokozuna, and 71st overall. "I am determined to focus all my efforts to train even harder and be certain to give all my strength not to defile the yokozuna name," he remarked. As a yokozuna, he performed the Unryū-gata style.
His first tournament as a yokozuna ended in disappointment as he gave up an early kinboshi to Endō on Day 4 and lost his last three matches to finish on 9–6. He fared better in subsequent tournaments in 2014, scoring at least 11 wins in each, and was in contention for the November 2014 tournament championship before losing to Hakuhō in the final bout. This was his fifth career runner-up performance.