is a Japanese

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...

player. She was a two-time back-to-back

British Darts Organisation The British Darts Organisation (BDO) was a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft. Made up of 66 member counties, it oversaw professional, semi-professional and amateur darts competitions in Britain. The BDO was a founder ...

(BDO) women's world champion. She plays in events of the

World Darts Federation The World Darts Federation (WDF) is a sport governing body and (along with the PDC) a tournament organiser for the game of darts. It was formed in 1974 by representatives of the original fourteen founding members. Membership is open to the natio ...

(WDF).

Career

Suzuki is an experienced soft-tip darts player, having competed in many tournaments and professional tours in her home country of Japan, as well as across east Asia. She began playing darts in her late twenties, winning many mainly soft-tip tournaments in Asia before becoming BDO World Champion aged 36 in 2019.

BDO titles

In 2018, Suzuki qualified for the 2019 BDO World Darts Championship as a qualifier, where she caused a huge upset by defeating the reigning champion and number two seed and four-time champion

Lisa Ashton Lisa Ashton (born 27 August 1970) is an English professional darts player who currently plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) and Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. She is a four-time BDO World Darts Women's Champion and has won over ...

in the first round, 2 sets to 0. At the Quarter-Final stages of the championship, she defeated Dutch player

Sharon Prins Sharon Prins (also known by her married name Sharon Boxem-Prins; born 24 August 1988) is a former Dutch darts player who played in events of the British Darts Organisation (BDO). Career Prins was born in 1988 in Zoetermeer and became a darts p ...

by the same score to reach the Semi-Final. In the Semi-Finals, once again by 2 sets to 0, she defeated Maria O'Brien, keeping her Lakeside record of dropping no sets fully intact to reach her first

BDO World Darts Championship The WDF World Darts Championship is a world championship competition in darts, organised by the World Darts Federation. It would previously organised by the British Darts Organisation (BDO), who held it 43 times from 1978 to 2020. The champio ...

final on her debut. She went on to defeat

Lorraine Winstanley Lorraine Winstanley ( née Farlam, born 28 October 1975) is an English darts player who plays in both World Darts Federation (WDF) and Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career Winstanley won the 2011 Romanian International Darts ...

3–0 to win the title on her debut year. She did not drop a set en route to the title, and only lost two legs in the Final. Former professional darts player and current pundit Chris Mason said of her victory on

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, its international sports unit, it operates two ...

that: "She is the Phil Taylor of the ladies' game. He raised the bar for the men, this is the same for the ladies' game." Suzuki was also the Ladies' Singles winner in the 2019 Dutch Open. Suzuki retained her BDO title in 2020, beating

in the

2020 BDO World Darts Championship The 2020 BDO World Professional Darts Championship was the 43rd and final World Championship organised by the British Darts Organisation, and the only staging at the Indigo at The O2 in London. It was the first BDO World Darts Championship not hel ...

final.

Future plans

Suzuki participated in PDC UK Q-School in 2020, but was unable to obtain a tour card after losing to

Nathan Rafferty Nathan Rafferty (born 17 January 2000) is a Northern Irish professional darts player who currently competes in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career Rafferty made his TV debut on the 2018 UK Open Eighteen or 18 may refer to: ...

. After losing narrowly to retired darts legend Phil Taylor in a virtual Sky Sports game during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Suzuki indicated that she intends to play in events around the world once the crisis is over and accepts it may be necessary for her to move to the UK in order to pursue her dream of obtaining a tour card and playing in PDC events.

World Championship results

BDO/WDF

* 2019: Winner (beat

3–0) * 2020: Winner (beat

3–0) * 2022: Second round (lost to

Aileen de Graaf Aileen de Graaf (born 25 April 1990) is a Dutch darts player playing in events of the World Darts Federation (WDF). She is member of the Dutch national team. She also plays in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Career De Graaf ...

1–2)

PDC

* 2020: First round (lost to James Richardson 2–3)

References

External links

Twitter

Mikuru Suzuki's profile and stats on Darts Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suzuki, Mikuru Living people Japanese darts players 1982 births BDO women's world darts champions Professional Darts Corporation associate players People from Takamatsu, Kagawa Professional Darts Corporation women's players