Aran Hakutora
Japanese:阿覧欧虎
Personal information
Born	Alan Gabaraev (1984-01-31)January 31, 1984 (age 41) Vladikavkaz,North Ossetian ASSR,RSFSR,USSR
Height	1.87 m (6 ft1+1⁄2 in)
Weight	141 kg (311 lb; 22.2 st)
Career
Stable	Mihogaseki
Record	263-258
Debut	January 2007
Highest rank	Sekiwake (September, 2010)
Retired	October 2013
Championships	1 (Jūryō) 1 (Jonokuchi)
Special Prizes	Fighting Spirit (2)
* Up to date as of Feb 2, 2015.

Aran Hakutora (阿覧欧虎, born January 31, 1984, asAlan Gabaraev,Russian:Ала́н Габара́ев) is aRussian formersumo wrestler.^[1] He began his professional career in January 2007 and made the top division in a record eleven tournaments. The highest rank he reached wassekiwake. He was runner-up in consecutive tournaments in May and July 2010 and earned twosanshō or special prizes for Fighting Spirit. He wrestled forMihogaseki stable.

Aran was born inVladikavkaz,North Ossetia–Alania,RSFSR,USSR,^[1] the same area asRohō andHakurozan. He began as anamateur wrestler, winning the Russian National Junior Championships. In October 2006 he won the open division of the World Amateur Sumo Championships held inSaitama,Japan, defeatingIchihara.^[2] In December of that year, he joinedMihogaseki stable. Sumo rules allow only one foreigner perstable, and the departure ofBaruto to the newly formedOnoe stable created an opening for him.^[2]

He made his professional debut in January 2007, alongsideYamamotoyama. Although he was able to win only 2 out of 5 bouts inmaezumo, he won thejonokuchi division championship in the next tournament with a perfect 7–0 record, and reached the second highestjūryō division after one and a half years in July 2008. He became the fourth Russiansekitori, after Rohō, Hakurozan, andWakanohō. (Following the dismissal of these three forcannabis use, Aran was the only Russian left.) He made the topmakuuchi division just two tournaments later in November 2008, after winning thejūryō division championship with a 12–3 record. The 11 tournaments it took him to reachmakuuchi from his professional debut equalled the all-timerecord held byKotoōshū,^[3] now broken byJōkōryū.

Until the January 2009 tournament, in which he scored only 5-10, Aran had maintained a winning record in every tournament in which he had participated.^[4] However, he responded two consecutive winning tournaments, which sent him up thebanzuke tomaegashira 1 for the July 2009 tournament inNagoya. He defeatedōzekiHarumafuji there but was able to win only three other bouts. After three tournaments out of the limelight, he returned to the uppermaegashira ranks in the March 2010 tournament, but lost 14 of his 15 matches. However, he put this disastrous performance behind him by scoring 12–3 in May, finishing runner-up toyokozunaHakuhō and receiving a share of the Fighting Spirit prize, his firstsanshō award. He had another good tournament in July, winning eleven bouts frommaegashira 2, defeating twoozeki and once again finishing runner-up with a share of theKantō-shō.

In the September 2010 tournament he made hissan'yaku debut atsekiwake, becoming the first member of Mihogaseki stable to reach sumo's third highest rank since the current head coach, the formerMasuiyama II, took over in 1984. He fell short with a 7–8 record, his only notable victory coming against the agingōzekiKaiō on the final day. He stayed in thesan'yaku ranks atkomusubi but could score only 4–11 in July. In January 2011 he beatōzekiBaruto but finished on 5-10, and his 6–9 mark in May, despite a win over Kotoōshū, was his fourth consecutive losing score. He returned to form in July 2011, scoring 10-5 which led to his return to thekomusubi rank. However, he had a losing 5–10 record in September 2011 which dropped him to themaegashira ranks for November, and he remained amaegashira throughout 2012.

Though still at a comfortable rank ofmaegashira 7 in the September 2013 tournament, he chose to retire after posting a 3–12 record where he lost the last nine bouts. His Mihogaseki stable was folding and being absorbed intoKasugano stable, and rather than fight for a new stable, he chose to retire on October 3 of that year.^[5] At a press conference he said that his physical condition was bad due to treatment for oral cancer and that he had been thinking about retirement for a year and a half. At his own request he quickly had a privatedanpatsu-shiki or retirement ceremony for close relatives only, which is unusual for a formersekiwake, and returned to Russia to become a businessman.^[6]

Aran's favoured techniques as listed with theJapan Sumo Association weremigi-yotsu (a left hand outside, right hand inside grip on his opponent'smawashi),yori (grappling) andoshi (pushing).

He was criticised for not moving forward enough during his bouts and for relying heavily onhenka (side-stepping) and slap downtechniques.^[7] Approximately one third of his wins were byhataki-komi (slap down), a much higher figure than most other wrestlers.^[8]

In January 2009 he announced his marriage, to a fellow Russian, although the couple had in fact wed in June 2008. They had a son in February 2010.

In January 2010 he revealed that in December 2008 he had undergone treatment formouth cancer. The operation to remove themalignanttumour was a success, but caused him to drop 20 kilos in weight.

• List of sumo record holders
• List of sumo tournament top division runners-up
• List of sumo tournament second division champions
• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of non-Japanese sumo wrestlers
• List of past sumo wrestlers
• List of sekiwake

• Japan Sumo Association profile
• Complete career record

• 1984 births
• Living people
• Sportspeople from Vladikavkaz
• Russian expatriates in Japan
• North Ossetian sumo wrestlers
• Sekiwake

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