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Ulambayar Byambajav (Mongolian: Уламбаярын Бямбажав, romanized: Ulambajarín Bjambazsav; 24 November 1984 – 28 February 2020), known professionally as Byamba, was a Mongolian sumo wrestler and entertainer. He began his professional career in Japan in 2001 under the name Daishōchi Kenta (Japanese: 大翔地 健太); tiring of the lifestyle, he retired from professional sumo wrestling in 2005. As an amateur, he won the Sumo World Championships twice in 2006 and 2007 and was a gold medalist at the 2009 World Games and 2013 World Combat Games. He also appeared on the comedy show Impractical Jokers. He died after a protracted illness in a Los Angeles hospital in February 2020.[1][self-published source?]
| Daishōchi Kenta | |
|---|---|
| 大翔地 健太 | |
 Byamba, 2010 | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | Ulambayar Byambajav November 24, 1984 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolian People's Republic |
| Died | 28 February 2020 (aged 35) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 152 kg (335 lb) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Shibatayama |
| Record | 95-66-14 |
| Debut | July 2001 |
| Highest rank | Makushita 15 (March 2005) |
| Retired | September 2005 |
| Championships | 1 (Jonokuchi) |
| * Up to date as of May 2013. | |
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's Sumo | ||
Representing  Mongolia
| ||
| World Games | ||
 |
2009 Kaohsiung | Open |
| World Combat Games | ||
|
2013 St. Petersburg | Heavyweight |
 |
2013 St. Petersburg | Open |
|
2010 Beijing | Open |
Sumo career
editHe was born in Ulaanbaatar, and took up Mongolian wrestling at the age of 9, but he preferred playing basketball. He won junior titles in wrestling, judo and sambo.[2] He was recruited as a professional sumo wrestler (rikishi) by former yokozuna Onokuni who was on a visit to Mongolia.[1][self-published source?] He competed under the shikona of Daishōchi Kenta. He was a member of Shibatayama stable from July 2001 until September 2005, reaching a highest rank of makushita 15.[3] However, tiring of the lifestyle, he quit at age 20 and as well as an amateur sumo career he also featured in film and television roles in Hollywood, and many commercials.[4] He won the Sumo World Championships in 2006 and 2007. He won the US Sumo Open Championship held in California for eight consecutive years, from 2007 to 2014. His overall record at the US Sumo Open was 110 wins and 7 losses.[5]
US film and television appearances
editUpon retiring from professional sumo, Byambajav moved to Los Angeles. Having limited English, he initially worked in menial jobs and manual labour.[6] However, he was able to gain a role as a sumo wrestler in the film Ocean's Thirteen (2007), through the Californian Sumo Association.[2] In 2010, he spent 1 week in the house of Gran Hermano 12 (Big Brother Spain). In February 2013, he was featured on the American television show King of the Nerds. In April 2014, he appeared as the celebrity special guest on the CW comedy improv series Whose Line Is It Anyway?. In 2014 he was featured in One Direction's video for "Steal My Girl" alongside fellow sumo wrestler Yamamotoyama Ryūta. In May 2015, he appeared alongside Yamamotoyama in an episode of The Bachelorette.
Byamba appeared in the April 16, 2015, episode of the TruTV series Impractical Jokers, titled "Pseudo-Sumo". The loser, Joe, was told he was going to be in a baby commercial, and was then surprised by Byamba. Byamba appeared again on Impractical Jokers, on August 16, 2018, in an episode titled "Bull Shiatsu", in which Joe lost again. This time Joe was dressed inside a home-made massage chair, manually massages people at a mall. The punishment didn't end until he massages his former adversary, Byamba. In 2016, he appeared as a figure skating sumo wrestler in a television advertisement for GEICO.[7] In 2017 he promoted a new variety of mandarin orange called the "Sumo Citrus" in Lindsay, California.[8] He featured as a model for the Subaru car company.
Personal life and death
editByamba died in a Los Angeles hospital on February 28, 2020, after a protracted illness.[1][9] He was married, with one child.[6]
Professional sumo career record
edit| Year | January Hatsu basho, Tokyo |
March Haru basho, Osaka |
May Natsu basho, Tokyo |
July Nagoya basho, Nagoya |
September Aki basho, Tokyo |
November Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | x | x | x | (Maezumo) | West Jonokuchi #46 6–1–PPP Champion |
East Jonidan #73 6–1 |
| 2002 | West Jonidan #3 5–2 |
East Sandanme #68 3–4 |
East Sandanme #87 4–3 |
West Sandanme #69 5–2 |
East Sandanme #39 4–3 |
West Sandanme #23 3–4 |
| 2003 | West Sandanme #39 3–4 |
West Sandanme #57 6–1 |
East Sandanme #6 3–4 |
West Sandanme #16 6–1 |
East Makushita #37 5–2 |
West Makushita #26 1–6 |
| 2004 | West Makushita #48 6–1 |
East Makushita #20 2–5 |
West Makushita #37 2–5 |
East Sandanme #2 6–1 |
West Makushita #29 4–3 |
East Makushita #24 4–3 |
| 2005 | East Makushita #19 4–3 |
West Makushita #15 3–4 |
West Makushita #20 4–3 |
West Makushita #15 Sat out due to injury 0–0–7 |
West Makushita #55 Retired 0–0–7 |
x |
| Record given as wins–losses–absences Top division champion Top division runner-up Retired Lower divisions Non-participation Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique Also shown: ★=Kinboshi; P=Playoff(s) |
||||||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c "Sumo Byama". Retrieved 1 March 2020.
- ^ a b "Meet Byamba: An International Sumo Star Spreading the Sport Around the World". Culture Trip. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
- ^ a b "Daishochi Kenta Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
- ^ Gunning, John (21 March 2019). "Sumo 101: Could-have-beens". The Japan Times. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
- ^ "Our Sumo Stars". USA Sumo. 30 December 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
- ^ a b Gunning, John (5 March 2020). "Legend Byamba deserves lot of credit for raising global profile of sumo". Japan Times. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
- ^ "GEICO "Sumo Wrestler Figure Skating" Commercial".
- ^ "Valley citrus company enlists champion sumo wrestler to help with marketing". ABC 30 Action News. September 15, 2017. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
- ^ "Legend Byamba deserves lot of credit for raising global profile of sumo". The Japan Times. 5 March 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2022.