is a former

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. He usually played on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

, and sometimes at

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

, for the Japanese national team. He made his name internationally as a speedy ace in the

World Rugby Sevens Series The World Rugby Men's Sevens Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the com ...

(then known as the IRB World Sevens Series), and went on to become a regular member of the national team. He first played for Japan on November 9, 1996 and scored three tries that day. He is the leading rugby union test try scorer of all time. In November 2016, Ohata was inducted into the

World Rugby Hall of Fame The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and other ...

at the opening ceremony for the Hall's first physical location in

Rugby, Warwickshire Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon. In the 2021 census its population was 78,125, making it the second-largest town in Warwickshire. It is the main settlement within the larger Borough of Rugby whi ...

Life and career

Ohata was born in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

and speaks with a strong Kansai accent. He attended rugby nurseries Tokai Dai Gyosei

High School A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

with

Koji Uehara is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He previously played for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), as well as the Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, and Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (M ...

and

Yoshinori Tateyama is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and the Hanshin Tigers. Career On November 30, ...

, where the three were classmates, and Kyoto Sangyo University.

World record holder

On 14 May 2006, Ohata scored three tries for

against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

at Hanazono Stadium, in doing so claiming the world record for tries in rugby test matches. This gave him sixty-five tries for his country in fifty-five tests; he has since extended his record to sixty-nine tries from fifty-eight tests. The record was previously held by

David Campese David Ian Campese, AM (born 21 October 1962), also known as Campo, is a former Australian rugby union player (1982-1996), who was capped by the Wallabies 101 times, and played 85 Tests at wing and 16 at fullback. He retired in 1996 and was aw ...

of Australia, who scored 64 tries from 101 tests. Unlike Campese, however, only a quarter of Ohata's tries were scored against major rugby union playing nations, causing controversy in some media. Ohata did not take part in the

Rugby World Cup 2007 The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 ...

, as he had ruptured his left

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus (h ...

in an August practice match against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. He had only just returned that month to the national side, having recovered from a right Achilles tendon rupture in January. In January 2011 Ohata's retirement was announced. Ohata, being 35-years-old, stated: “It's sad that it ended like this but I think I have had a good career. I feel I have left my mark as a rugby player.”

References

External links

"Ohata deserves his place in the record books"
''Daily Yomiuri'', May 16, 2006

''Daily Yomiuri'', May 15, 2006
Photo of Ohata
- JRFU website

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ohata, Daisuke 1975 births Living people Japanese rugby union players Kobelco Kobe Steelers players ASM Clermont Auvergne players Sportspeople from Osaka Rugby union wings Japan international rugby union players Asian Games medalists in rugby union Rugby union players at the 1998 Asian Games Rugby union players at the 2002 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for Japan Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees Japan international rugby sevens players

Life and career

World record holder

See also

References

External links