"Japanese Stephen Bunting" qualifies for 2026 PDC World Darts Championship; Mitsuhiko Tatsunami set for Ally Pally debut this December

Mitsuhiko Tatsunami has secured qualification for the 2026 PDC World Darts Championship on Sunday. The 52-year-old darter, already dubbed online the "Japanese Stephen Bunting", due to his somewhat familiar resemblance to the former Lakeside champion, will now make his debut at the iconic Alexandra Palace in December.

Over the past few months, Japan’s best steel-tip players have been battling it out on the Steel Darts Japan Tour. The tour featured twelve events in total, with familiar faces like Seigo Asada and rising talents such as Keita Ono and Tomoya Goto all picking up titles. A place inside the top 32 was enough to secure a spot at the Steel Darts Japan Tour Finals.

Those finals took place on Sunday in Japan. Tatsunami booked his place in the qualifier’s final by seeing off Nobuhiro Yamamoto (5–3), Akito Yamagata (5–0), Joji Kanuma (5–4) and Hiroki Kaneko (2–1). Ryuta Arihara was the other finalist, having beaten Tomoya Goto (5–4), Taku Fujikawa (5–0), Yoshihisa Baba (5–1) and Keita Ono (2–1).

In the final, Tatsunami took the opening set 3–1. Arihara forced a decider by claiming the second set by the same score, then moved ahead in the third with a 14-darter. Tatsunami levelled with a 60 finish and then edged in front with a 14-darter of his own. Arihara had three chances to force a last leg but couldn’t take them, and Tatsunami wrapped it up with a 17-darter.