PDC extends support for Chinese events as 2025 expansion announced

Xaiochen Zong (PDC)

Players in China will have the chance to win places in the World Darts Championship, World Cup of Darts and PDC Asian Championship across three domestic events in 2025.

The 2025 China Premier League will be held from April 17-20, with the two finalists securing places to represent their country in June's World Cup of Darts.

The top six players from a 12-month Order of Merit of China Online Tour events are joined in the China Premier League by two qualifiers to come from events on April 17.

Seven individual events will then be held from April 18-20, followed by the Play-Offs to determine the eventual champion, with the event being streamed on PDCTV.

A bonus for the finalists is the chance to represent China at the World Cup of Darts, which will take place in Frankfurt from June 12-15.

The new China ProTour will then be introduced from May to October, providing ten tournaments which are worth $3,500US each.

The top-ranked player following the China ProTour (at the end of August) will then qualify automatically for the PDC Asian Championship.

With the ProTour being planned to continue in 2026, a rolling 12-month Order of Merit will then be used for World Cup of Darts selection next year.

The China Championship will conclude the year's domestic events, and see the champion progress to compete in the World Darts Championship in December.

The 24-player event will include the top 16 players from the China ProTour Order of Merit, with eight seeded, alongside eight players from the China Online Order of Merit.

The one-day event will then begin with a round-robin stage of eight groups - with one seed per group - before an elimination stage from the quarter-finals onwards, and will feature streaming on PDCTV.

A Chinese Qualifier for the 2025 Winmau World Youth Championship will also take place this year, which will include sponsorship for the player to travel to compete in the UK in October.

The expanded schedule comes as part of a new, five-year agreement between the PDC and IDC (International Darts Company Ltd) to continue to grow the sport in China.

"These are ambitious and exciting plans for developing professional darts in China, and we're pleased to be working with our partners, including the IDC, to support the growth of the sport there," said PDC Chief Executive Matt Porter.

"There will be greater opportunities than ever for Chinese players in 2025 and beyond, both to compete in a series of high-quality domestic events and then to progress to play in international PDC tournaments.

"Xiaochen Zong has led the way for Chinese darts in recent years, but the country has a huge depth of talent who can now test themselves on a regular basis both in China and on the PDC Asian Tour.

"This growth of domestic darts in China continues our policy of supporting developmental tours globally during a hugely exciting time for the sport around the world."