Ryusei Azemoto fell agonisingly short in his bid for World Darts Championship qualification as the 2026 Steel Tour Japan reached a dramatic climax in Kanagawa on Wednesday. Azemoto came into this week’s double-header needing to win all four titles to overhaul his compatriot Motomu Sakai and secure his World Darts Championship return. Sakai – who […]
Ryusei Azemoto fell agonisingly short in his bid for World Darts Championship qualification as the 2026 Steel Tour Japan reached a dramatic climax in Kanagawa on Wednesday.
Azemoto came into this week’s double-header needing to win all four titles to overhaul his compatriot Motomu Sakai and secure his World Darts Championship return.
Sakai – who was absent following his exploits at last weekend’s World Series of Darts Finals – was already assured of his place at Alexandra Palace following his second-place finish on the PDC Asian Tour.
However, Azemoto almost completed the clean sweep on home soil, producing a remarkable 23-match winning run to claim a hat-trick of titles in Events 9-11.
The 30-year-old put in an impressive display to defeat Hiroki Kaneko 5-3 in the Event Nine showpiece, which was preceded by a deciding-leg win over Taiga Ajiki in the semi-finals.
Azemoto made it back-to-back titles with Event Ten success later in the day, overturning a 4-2 deficit against Atsushi Takeuchi, having survived multiple match darts in leg seven.
He also fought back from 4-3 down to deny Shunta Takayama in the semi-finals, following up a 13-darter with a 103 checkout to complete an impressive comeback.
The Tokyo-born star extended his winning run to 18 matches in claiming the Event 11 crown, winning through a further two deciding-leg ties before toppling PDC Asian Tour champion Ryuta Arihara 5-3.
Azemoto – who made his second World Darts Championship appearance last December – maintained his rampant run in Wednesday’s finale, conceding just seven legs in his opening five matches.
This set up a decisive showdown against Yuta Hayashi for the Event 12 crown, although Azemoto was unable to overturn 3-0 and 4-2 deficits, eventually succumbing 5-3 in a hard-fought contest.
Sakai subsequently finished top of the 2026 rankings and therefore claims the Steel Darts Japan Champion qualifier spot at Azemoto’s expense.
As a result, Sakai’s Asian Tour ranking place is passed down to the highest-ranked non-qualified player on the Asian Tour rankings – Man Lok Leung.
Hong Kong’s former World Cup of Darts quarter-finalist memorably defeated Gian van Veen at the 2023/24 World Championship, and will now feature in the sport’s flagship event for a third time in December.
2026 Steel Tour Japan
September 22-23, Kanagawa, Japan
Event Nine
Semi-Finals
Hiroki Kaneko 5-1 Junpei Shibata
Ryusei Azemoto 5-4 Taiga Ajiki
Final
Ryusei Azemoto 5-3 Hiroki Kaneko
Event Ten
Semi-Finals
Ryusei Azemoto 5-4 Shunta Takayama
Atsushi Takeuchi 5-2 Ryunosuke Iwai
Final
Ryusei Azemoto 5-4 Atsushi Takeuchi
Event 11
Semi-Finals
Ryusei Azemoto 5-4 Yuta Hayashi
Ryuta Arihara 5-3 Atsushi Takeuchi
Final
Ryusei Azemoto 5-3 Ryuta Arihara
Event 12
Semi-Finals
Ryusei Azemoto 5-1 Atsushi Takeuchi
Yuta Hayashi 5-2 Sho Okano
Final
Yuta Hayashi 5-3 Ryusei Azemoto