Intai - Tsurugishou

[Moti Dichne]

The Kyokai announced today that ex- Makuuchi Tsurugishou, currently ranked Juryo 12W, has submitted his retirement papers and that they have been accepted. He will not remain with the  Kyokai. A retirement press conference is scheduled for a later date. Tsurugishou lost all 15 matches in Haru. This was the first time a Juryo rikishi had suffered such a record since Fujiazuma in the 2020 Kyushu basho. It was certain that he would be demoted to Makushita next basho, but at the end of last basho he said, "I haven't decided 100% that I'm going to retire. I'll think about it slowly after the basho is over." It appears that he made the decision to retire after careful consideration. He is a graduate of Nihon University, made his sumo debut in the January 2014 tournament under his real name, Yasuhiko, and was promoted to Juryo in the January 2016 tournament, at which point he changed his shikona to "Tsurugishou." He made his debut in Makuuchi in Aki 2019 , and his highest rank was Maegashira 6E. In January, he married Yuka, who works as a flight attendant for an airline. They are planning their wedding ceremony and reception for June.