Ōshōma Degi

Ōshōma Degi (欧勝馬 出気) born 9 April 1997 as Pürevsürengiin Delgerbayar (Пүрэвсүрэнгийн Дэлгэрбаяр) is a Mongolian professional sumo wrestler from Töv Province. Wrestling for Naruto stable, he made his professional debut in November 2021, and became sekitori when he reached the jūryō division in July 2022.

Early life and sumo background
Ōshōma was born among the nomadic populations of Mongolia. As a child, he grew up riding horses and taking care of sheep. Ōshōma began wrestling at the age of 14 and at the age of 16, with the help of Yokozuna Asashōryū, he came in Japan at in Chiba prefecture along future ōzeki Hōshōryū. There, he won the National High School Championships. He then enrolled at Nippon Sport Science University and joined the university's sumo club. Between his second and third year, he won many tournaments including the National University Championships in Towada and the National Student Championships (openweight division); the National University Championships in Usa, the All-Japan University Championships and the National Student Championships in Kanazawa. In his fourth year, he became "student yokozuna" at the National Student Championships in Towada. That last championship granted him the makushita tsukedashi status. Upon graduation from college he decided to turn pro and joined Naruto stable because its master, former ōzeki Kotoōshū, mentored him since his college days as training at a sumo stable is mandatory for foreign-born wrestlers to undergo the new apprentice examination.

Early career
He made his professional debut in September 2021 and was given the shikona, or ring name, "Ōshōma" (欧勝馬) to evoke both his master, with the kanji for Europe (欧), his hopes for success, with the kanji for victory (勝) and his nomadic past with the kanji meaning horse (馬). His shikona first name "Degi" (出喜) was chosen with the kanji for 'move away' (出) as it is phonetically reminiscent of part of his original first name: Delgerbayar.

His makushita tsukedashi allowed him to make his debut at the rank of makushita 15. Ōshōma however had to leave his stable as he lost his father in August 2021. Subsequently, and despite being officially listed as a wrestler, Ōshōma was granted a reprieve to attend his father's funeral and was listed as banzukegai in September 2021. Ōshōma shared the same recruit examination session as Kinbōzan, who began his career with the sandanme tsukedashi system. In May 2022, Ōshōma won the makushita championship with a prefect 7–0 record at the rank of makushita 8 with a win on Kitaharima on the last day. He was promoted to jūryō for the following July 2022 tournament, thus becoming the first sekitori raised by Kotoōshū.

During his jūryō debut Ōshōma had to withdraw from Day 8 of the July 2022 tournament after a COVID outbreak at Naruto stable and in September he broke his thumb during his first match. In November 2022, during his third tournament in jūryō, Ōshōma defeated Daiamami in a playoff on the final day to claim the jūryō championship. In December of the same year, he injured his shoulders during a training session. He subsequently performed poorly for half of 2023, citing recurrences of pain as a factor in his lack of performance. During his training, he often asked for advice from upper-division wrestler and makuuchi veteran Tamawashi, who's also from Mongolia.

In preparation for the September 2023 tournament, he changed the spelling of his shikona first name from 出喜 to 出気, with the same pronunciation, to use the kanji meaning 'energy' (気) to ward off his recent injuries which were penalizing him in his wrestling.

During the March 2024 tournament, Ōshōma (then at the rank of jūryō 4) recorded a tenth victory over Asakōryū on Day 14, creating speculation in the press about a potential promotion to sumo's top division for the first time.

Makuuchi promotion
Ōshōma's promotion to makuuchi was made official with the unveiling of the May 2024 tournament banzuke. At the press conference at his stable, Ōshōma expressed his regret at having taken 2 years to reach this level of competition after a professional debut marked by injuries. His promotion to makuuchi, however, makes Ōshōma the twenty-ninth Mongolian wrestler to reach the division for the first time, the latest being Mitoryū in 2022.