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Zong Xiao Chen

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Zong Xiao Chen
Personal information
Full nameXiaochen Zong
Nickname"The Pandaman"
Born (1998-03-08) 8 March 1998 (age 26)[1]
Dandong, Liaoning Province, China
Home townDandong, China
Darts information
Playing darts since2012
Darts24g Mission The Pandaman
LateralityRight-handed
Walk-on music"Galvanize" by The Chemical Brothers
Organisation (see split in darts)
PDC2016–
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'shipLast 72: 2018
Other tournament wins
PDC Asian Tour 2023 (x2)
PDC Chinese Qualifier 2017, 2019
PDC China Premier League 2022, 2024

Zong Xiao Chen (Chinese: 宗笑尘; born 8 March 1998) is a Chinese professional darts player from Dandong who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is the first winner of the China Premier League. He has represented China three times at the PDC World Darts Championship.

Career

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Zong played in the 2017 Shanghai Darts Masters, where he lost 0–6 to James Wade, and later in the year, he won the Chinese Qualifier competition to qualify for the 2018 PDC World Darts Championship. He played against Bernie Smith of New Zealand in the preliminary round, but even though he lost by 0–2 in sets, he set a new national record average of 86.97 in the match.

In the middle of the year, he represented his country with Momo Zhou at the 2018 PDC World Cup of Darts. After a close match, albeit at a low level, China fell in the first round match against Switzerland (Alex Fehlmann and Andy Bless) 2–5 in legs. Later that year, he played in the 2018 Shanghai Darts Masters, where he lost 0–6 to Michael Smith. In November, he competed again in the Chinese Qualifier for the 2019 PDC World Darts Championship, but lost in the qualifying final 2–5 in legs to lower-seeded Yuanjun Liu. Two weeks later, he appeared in his 2018 PDC World Youth Championship, where he was eliminated in the group-stage by Rhys Griffin. Throughout the season, he took part in individual PDC Asian Tour and PDC Development Tour tournaments, but without big success.

In 2019, once again had the opportunity to represent China at the 2019 PDC World Cup of Darts. This time his partner was Yuanjun Liu. The Chinese team was knocked out again in the first round, this time losing to the United States team (Darin Young and Chuck Puleo) 1–5 in legs. In October, he took part in next Chinese qualifying tournament for the 2020 PDC World Darts Championship. In November, he played in the PDC Development Tour competitions and 2019 PDC World Youth Championship, where he was eliminated in the group-stage by Luke Humphries. His rival in the first round of the 2020 PDC World Darts Championship was Kyle Anderson, with whom he lost 2–3 in sets.

The coronavirus pandemic significantly slowed down his career, but he devoted this time to developing his skills. In 2022, was one of the players invited to participate in the PDC China Premier League. He won seven of nine regular matchdays, being unbeaten for 21 matches, finishes the regular phase as leader and he eventually beat all rivals in the final play-offs.[2] Zong beat Zheng Bin 5-0 in the final of the ninth matchday with an impressive average of 101.55, which is new national record average.[3] Despite winning the tournament, Zong will not travel to the 2023 PDC World Darts Championship, because he cannot be vaccinated against coronavirus due to allergies, therefore he cannot compete outside China.[4]

World Championship results

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PDC

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Performance timeline

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Tournament 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
PDC Ranked televised events
World Championship DNQ PR DNQ 1R DNQ WD 1R
PDC Non-ranked televised events
World Cup of Darts DNP 1R 1R DNP RR
World Youth Championship 2R DNQ RR RR DNQ Not eligible

References

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  1. ^ "Xiao-Chen Zong - Mastercaller.com". Mastercaller. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Dominant Zong claims PDC China Premier League glory". PDC. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  3. ^ "Zong seals seventh Chinese Premier League win of the season as play-offs set up". dartsnews.com. September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  4. ^ "Xicheng Han set for PDC World Darts Championship debut despite qualifier defeat as Xiaochen Zong denied spot due to vaccination issues". dartsnews.com. 5 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
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