Saturday the second edition of the PDC Asian Championship began in Japan. There, 48 Asian participants are competing for three spots at the World Darts Championship. Meanwhile, eight players remain.
The tournament began with sixteen groups of three players each. The sixteen group winners advanced to the final sixteen. Such well-known names as Paolo Nebrida, Man Lok Leung, Kai Fan Leung, Yuki Yamada, Seigo Asada and Royden Lam did not make it through the group phase.
That was true of top favorite Lourence Ilagan, but the Filipino dart player then lost to Motomu Sakai in the last sixteen. The Japanese will take on darts legend Paul Lim in the quarterfinals. Well-known Asian darters such as Haruki Muramatsu and Christian Perez also managed to join the last eight.
The finalists of the PDC Asian Championship and the top-ranked Japanese dart player will receive an invitation to the World Darts Championship. The winner may also compete in the Grand Slam of Darts.
Records PDC Asian Championship
Last 16
Motomu Sakai (92.59) 5-4 (85.71) Lourence Ilagan
Paul Lim (82.66) 5-4 (81.58) Rosendo Jr Lubaton
Haruku Muramatsu (101.76) 5-2 (91.13) Alex Tagarao
Raymond Copano (79.99) 5-4 (76.19) Mohd Nasir Bin Jantan
Sonny Millo Balagat (77.93) 5-4 (79.89) Tomoya Goto
Sandro Eric Sosing (89.37) 5-1 (81.68) Jemel Modesto
Ryusei Azemoto (89.40) 5-3 (85.38) Tatsunami Mitsuhiko
Christian Perez (80.07) 5-2 (79.20) Lok Yin Lee
Quarterfinals
Motomu Sakai v Paul Lim
Haruki Muramatsu v Raymond Copano
Sonny Millo Balagat v Sandro Eric Sosing
Ryusei Azemoto v Christian Perez