Seigo Asada wins PDJ Japanese Qualifier to secure debut at William Hill World Championship in December

Seigo Asada will make his debut in the William Hill World Championship in December after winning the PDJ Japanese Qualifier.

The 37-year-old, from Osaka, lost out in the semi-finals of last year’s qualifier, but went all the way this time round to secure his first Alexandra Palace appearance.

Asada picked up 4-1 wins over Noriyuki Negishi, Toyokazu Shibata and Shingo Enomata to reach the final, where he saw off the challenge of Yuya Higuchi 5-2 to win the qualifier.

Asada has experience on the big stage having taken on two-time world champion Gary Anderson in the Tokyo Darts Masters last year, and he has also qualified for the BDO World Championship three times.

2017 PDJ Japanese Qualifier
First Round
Toyokazu Shibata 4-3 Hisato Sotoosa
Seigo Asada 4-1 Noriyuki Negishi
Tatsuya Zama 4-1 Katsuya Aiba
Shingo Enomata 4-0 Osamu Niki
Shin Higashida 4-3 Sho Katsumi
Haruki Muramatsu 4-3 Taro Yachi
Keita Ono 4-1 Satoaki Taguchi
Yuya Higuchi 4-2 Kenichi Aijiki

Quarter-Finals
Seigo Asada 4-1 Toyokazu Shibata
Shingo Enomata 4-1 Tatsuya Zama
Haruki Muramatsu 4-2 Shin Higashida
Yuya Higuchi 4-2 Keita Ono

Semi-Finals
Seigo Asada 4-1 Shingo Enomata
Yuya Higuchi 4-2 Haruki Muramatsu

Final
Seigo Asada 5-2 Yuya Higuchi