(10 February 1977 – 13 March 2017) was a Japanese

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the ...

player, nicknamed The Ogre.

Career

Hashimoto first appeared in the PDC circuit competing in the

2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic The 2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic (officially the 2009 PartyPoker.com Las Vegas Desert Classic for sponsorship) was a professional darts tournament staged from July 1 to July 5, 2009 at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was the ei ...

qualifiers, as well as a Players Championship. He attempted to qualify for the 2010 PDC World Darts Championship, but lost in the final of the Japanese Qualifying event to

Haruki Muramatsu Haruki Muramatsu (村松治樹; born 15 April 1977) is a Japanese darts player. Career Muramatsu qualified for the 2010 PDC World Darts Championship. He defeated Poland's Krzysztof Kciuk 4–1 in the preliminary round, but lost 3–0 to Ron ...

. In September 2010, Hashimoto won through the qualifier, beating Mitsumasa Hoshino in the final and qualified for the

2011 PDC World Darts Championship The 2011 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship was the 18th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation. The event took place at the Alexandra Palace, London from 16 D ...

. A month later, he was a quarter-finalist in the Japan Open and in November, he reached the final of the WDF Asia-Pacific Cup men's singles, losing to New Zealand's Koha Kokiri. Hashimoto was drawn in the preliminary round against PDPA qualifier Matt Padgett and quickly became popular with the crowd. After winning his first leg, levelling the match at 1–1, the crowd started chanting his name to the tune of "Reach Up (Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag)", which was used as a walk on by

Adrian Lewis Adrian Lewis (born 21 January 1985) is an English professional darts player currently playing in the PDC. He is a two-time PDC World Darts Champion, winning in 2011 and 2012. He is nicknamed Jackpot, as he won a jackpot gambling in Las Vegas ...

. Hashimoto went on to win the match by 4 legs to 2 and become the second Japanese qualifier to win through the preliminary round after Muramatsu. The song, performed by the Perfecto Allstarz, was played at the end of the match instead of the traditional "Chase the Sun" by

Planet Funk Planet Funk is an Italian electronic band. The group is composed of Marco Baroni, Domenico "GG" Calipari, Alex Neri, Dan Black and formerly Sergio Della Monica who died in February 2018. In addition a number of guest vocalists joined the group, i ...

, and Hashimoto would have it played as his walk on for his first round match against Gary Anderson. He would not win a leg as Anderson whitewashed him 3–0 in sets. After the match, Hashimoto, speaking English, thanked the crowd for their support. Hashimoto represented Japan with

in the 2012 PDC World Cup of Darts and together they were beaten 5–2 by Sweden in the first round. Hashimoto beat Muramatsu 6–5 in the final of the Japanese qualifying tournament for the 2014 World Championship. He saw off Paul Lim 4–2 in the preliminary round and won the opening set in his first round match against Michael Smith, but went on to lose 3–1. In June, Hashimoto and Muramatsu watched as Canada missed seven darts for the match in the first round of the World Cup of Darts to step in and steal a 5–4 win. In the second round they both lost their singles matches against the Northern Irish partnering of Brendan Dolan and Michael Mansell to exit the tournament. A year later, after whitewashing China 5–0, they were knocked out at the same stage this time by the top seeds England. Hashimoto lost 6–2 in the first round of the inaugural Japan Darts Masters to

James Wade James Martin Wade (born 6 April 1983) is an English professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He became the youngest player to win a major PDC title, when he won the 2007 World Matchplay at the ...

Death

Hashimoto died suddenly on 13 March 2017 of a

brain haemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

. His death was confirmed by his sponsor, Monster Barrels, on their Facebook page. A number of darts players paid tribute to him including Gary Anderson, Hashimoto's opponent in the first round of the 2011 World Championship. He also received condolences from the official PDC website.

World Championship results

PDC

* 2011: First round (lost to Gary Anderson 0–3) * 2014: First round (lost to Michael Smith 1–3)

References

External links

Annie's Diary
Official Blog * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hashimoto, Morihiro 1977 births 2017 deaths Japanese darts players Professional Darts Corporation associate players PDC World Cup of Darts Japanese team