Haruki Muramatsu is one of the most established Japanese players in both soft-tip and steel-tip darts. His signature moment came in 2018, when he beat the man widely considered the greatest player in darts history, Phil Taylor, in the SUPER DARTS final. This profile covers who he is, what happened in that final, his record at the PDC World Championship, and the story behind his marriage to fellow player Mikuru Suzuki.
Who Is Haruki Muramatsu: From Hanamaki to the World Stage
Muramatsu was born on April 15, 1977, in Hanamaki, Iwate Prefecture, and graduated from Iwate Prefectural Hanamaki Kita High School. He started competing seriously around 2002. In Japan's darts scene he's sometimes called "HAL," while some overseas sources use the nickname "Rising Sun." Both nicknames turn up in different sources, so neither one is the single official name.
The 2018 SUPER DARTS Final: Beating "The Power" Phil Taylor
Muramatsu's biggest career win came at SUPER DARTS in March 2018. He beat Taiwan's Hsu Tzu-cheng and American player Chris Lim, got past Singapore's Paul Lim in the semifinal, then faced Phil Taylor, the player widely regarded as the greatest in darts history, who had just stepped away from the PDC tour, in the final. The organizers never released a detailed leg-by-leg score, but Muramatsu was candid in his post-match interview: "Honestly, it wasn't a perfect performance, but I'm just glad I won. The moment I knew I'd won was hitting that last bullseye." The win made him one of the few Japanese players to ever beat Taylor in a tournament final.
The Other Path: His PDC World Championship Record
Alongside soft-tip darts, Muramatsu has spent years competing in the steel-tip PDC World Championship, reaching the main draw at least five times (2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2024). In 2023 he won the PDC Asian Championship, a title that earned him direct qualification for the 2024 World Championship, one of the highlights of his steel-tip career. He's currently sponsored by Target Darts and plays with the 22g Target Signature series. His Target soft tip signature model, RISING SUN, is in our online darts shop: search for 村松治樹 (the shop is in Chinese, so search his name in Japanese characters).
Marrying Fellow Player Mikuru Suzuki
Muramatsu's wife is Mikuru Suzuki, a Japanese player who competes internationally in her own right. The couple registered their marriage on December 12, 2025, but didn't make it public until February 14, 2026, when Muramatsu announced it in a post-match interview after winning JAPAN STAGE17 in Shizuoka. The news caught plenty of darts fans by surprise.
From picking up darts in Hanamaki to beating Phil Taylor in a final, Haruki Muramatsu's story shows soft-tip darts can produce world-class talent. Want to read about more Japanese players? Check out our guide to Japan's top darts players. AI DARTS runs its Phoenix soft-tip machines 24 hours a day, if you want to try hitting that bullseye yourself, take a look at our menu.