Azumaryū Tsuyoshi 東龍 強
Azumaryū in 2012
Personal information
Born	Sanduijav Todbileg (1987-05-12)May 12, 1987 (age 38) Govi-Altai Province, Mongolia
Height	1.92 m (6 ft3+1⁄2 in)
Weight	155 kg (342 lb; 24 st 6 lb)
Career
Stable	Tamanoi
University	Kyushu Institute of Information Sciences
Record	528-522-47
Debut	January 2009
Highest rank	Maegashira 11 (March 2023)
Retired	25 December 2023
Championships	1 (Jūryō)
* Up to date as of 25 December 2023.

Azumaryū Tsuyoshi (Japanese:東龍 強, born 12 May 1987 asSanduijav Todbileg (Mongolian:Сандуйжавын Тодбилэг)) is a former Mongolian professionalsumo wrestler fromGovi-Altai Province. His highest rank has beenmaegashira 11. After an amateur sumo career at theKyushu Institute of Information Sciences, he turned professional in November 2008, reachingsekitori status in January 2013 upon promotion to thejūryō division. He was ranked in the topmakuuchi division on nine occasions without earning awinning record before finally achieving it on his tenth attempt in January 2023. He was demoted to themakushita division in 2015, but won promotion back tojūryō in November 2015 and the top division in September 2019. He has onejūryō division championship. He wrestled forTamanoi stable.

Azumaryū came to Japan at the age of 15, and attended Meitoku Gijuku High School, known for its strong sumo club. He joined the Kyushu Institute of Information Sciences but left in his third year when an opening became available atTamanoi stable after the retirement of the Brazilian Takaazuma (sumo rules restrict foreigners to one per stable). TheJapan Sumo Association had recently had issues with foreign wrestlers such asHakurozan andRohō who had been dismissed from sumo after acannabis scandal but Azumaryū's six years in Japan convinced the stable that he had the necessary experience of Japanese culture to be a success. Although he was accepted by the stable in November 2008, he was not able to make his debut on thedohyō until the following tournament in January 2009, because of Sumo Association rules requiring foreigners to have satisfied all their visa requirements and attend sumo education classes.

Azumaryū moved through the lower divisions quickly, but found themakushita division more difficult. Finally in November 2012 a 6–1 record at the top ofmakushita saw him promoted to thejūryō division. He said upon his promotion that he hoped to emulate his heroKaiō.^[1] In just his second tournament in the division he lost a play-off for theyūshō or championship to fellow MongolianKyokushūhō after both finished with 12–3 records, and this performance earned him promotion to the topmakuuchi division for the first time. A 6–9 record saw him demoted straight back tojūryō, but he returned to the top division after a 10–5 record in January 2014 atjūryō 3. In his secondmakuuchi tournament in March 2014 he was ranked atmaegashira 14 and stood at five wins and four losses after nine days, but finished with another 6–9 record. The retirement ofKotoōshū after that tournament opened up an extra slot inmakuuchi, butSadanoumi, with 8–7 atjūryō 4, was given the extra rank ofmaegashira 17 over Azumaryū who again was demoted. He won promotion back tomakuuchi for the July 2014 tournament, but injured his knee on the 14th day and had to withdraw, losing his scheduled 15th day bout by default. This was the first bout he had missed in his career. His 7–8 record was enough to keep him inmakuuchi but his injury kept him out of the following tournament in September 2014, resulting in a fall tojūryō. Although he returned in November 2014 two more losing records saw him demoted to the unsalariedmakushita division for the March 2015 tournament.

In September 2015 he took part in an eight-way play-off for themakushita championship, and although he was defeated byChiyoshōma in the semi-final stage his 6–1 record was good enough for a return tojūryō. He has remained asekitori since then, and although he was consistent enough to avoid demotion he did not win promotion back to the top division until 2019, when a majority of wins atjūryō 1 saw him return to makuuchi after 30 tournaments away.^[2] This is the second longest gap between top division appearances afterSatoyama's 37 tournaments. He managed only a 6–9 record in hismakuuchi return and was demoted back tojūryō, but an 11–4 record from the top rank ofJūryō 1 East ensured his immediate return to the top division. He also won thejūryō division championship after a four-way playoff withIkioi,Kaisei andKiribayama, his firstyūshō in any division.

Azumaryū remained in the top division for two tournaments, but was back injūryō for the third tournament of 2020, held in July. He missed the September tournament because of an outbreak ofCOVID-19 at his stable,^[3] but along with all his stablemates did not suffer any drop in rank as a result. After spending the whole of 2021 injūryō, he won promotion back tomakuuchi following a 10-5 record atjūryō 2 in the March 2022 tournament.^[4] He had to withdraw from Day 11 of the July 2022 tournament after another COVID outbreak at Tamanoi stable.^[5] He returned to the top division for the November 2022 tournament atmaegashira 14,^[6] and secured his first top divisionkachi-koshi in January 2023.^[7] In the following tournament in March he lost 11 of his 15 matches and was subsequently demoted back tojūryō. He injured his left knee in his opening bout of the November 2023 tournament against Hakuyōzan, forcing his withdrawal from competition.^[8]

Soon after the release of thebanzuke on 25 December 2023 Azumaryū, having been demoted out ofsekitori status, retired from professional sumo.^[9]

Azumaryū preferred amigi yotsu (left hand outside, right hand inside) grip on his opponent'smawashi. His favouritekimarite or techniques wereyori-kiri (force out) anduwatenage (overarm throw).

Azumaryū has been married to a Mongolian woman one year his senior since 2011, when their marriage was registered inUlaanbaatar. They have two daughters and one son. A formal wedding ceremony was held in Tokyo on 19 February 2023, one month after Azumaryū secured his firstwinning record in thetop division.^[7]

• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of sumo tournament second division champions
• List of past sumo wrestlers

• Azumaryū Tsuyoshi's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage

• 1987 births
• Living people
• Mongolian sumo wrestlers
• Sumo people from Ulaanbaatar
• People from Govi-Altai Province

• CS1 Japanese-language sources (ja)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing Japanese-language text
• Articles containing Mongolian-language text