Recent China Premier League champion Xiaochen Zong endured a surprise early exit as Yuanjun Liu secured victory in the opening event of the 2025 PDC China ProTour with a dominant 5–1 win over Kehua Wang in the final.
Yuanjun, an experienced 43-year-old from Guangxi Province, is no stranger to the big stage, having twice featured at the Shanghai Darts Masters – his debut coming against the legendary Phil Taylor in 2016
Although Liu claimed the title averaging a modest 84.67 his most impressive display came in the last 16, where he posted a 91.72 average in a 4–1 win against Linhui Zhang.
As well as the aforementioned World Series appearances, the second pitting him against Gerwyn Price, Yuanjun has also proudly represented his nation in multiple editions of the World Cup of Darts.
Xiaochen’s surprise early exit came early in event one, losing 4–2 to Quigyu Zhan in the second round.
However, The Pandaman bounced back in style the following day, exacting revenge with a solid 5–2 win over the very man who had knocked him out just 24 hours earlier.
Zong was in fine form throughout, dropping only seven legs en route to the title. His standout performance came in the semi-final, where he averaged an impressive 96.47 – best of the weekend bunch.
Fans may recognise the 27-year-old from his recent appearances at the World Darts Championship, most recently losing 3–0 to Germany’s Ricardo Pietreczko. Notably, Zong etched his name into the history books two years ago by throwing the first-ever perfect leg in a PDC China streamed match. One to watch next month at the World Cup in Frankfurt.
To round off the weekend’s action, Tong Xu came through a smaller 45-player field to take the third title, edging out Quigyu Zhan 5–4 in a thrilling final – Zhan’s second runner-up finish in as many days.
The ‘Best Leg of the Weekend’ award was shared between Xiaochen Zong and Kehua Wang, both producing superb 12-dart finishes during the second event. Their clinical four-visit legs stood out as the sharpest across the weekend’s action. Highest checkout honour – a Big Fish 170 from who else but Xiaochen Zong
With spots in the PDC Asian Championship and World Darts Championship on the line, the race for qualification among China’s darting elite is only just heating up.
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC
