PDC darts: Hong Kong’s Kevin Leung beats world No 20 Chris Dobey but fails to advance in Home Tour online clash

Hong Kong’s Kevin Leung Kai-fan was barely awake at 5am as he defeated world number 20 Chris Dobey in the PDC Home Tour online series – but it was not enough to advance to the next round after he finished bottom of his group.

Leung beat the Englishman 5-4 in a tense final game in their four-man group after suffering a close 5-4 defeat by Dutchman Ron Meulenkamp, where he failed three times on double 18 for victory, and a 5-1 loss to Ireland’s Ciaran Teehan.

Leung, who earned praise from Dobey and commentator Dan Dawson for staying awake until 5am, said the matches felt like the real thing even though they were playing from their homes because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“All in all, even though it’s a house tournament, you can still feel the tension, which makes it quite exhausting,” said Leung, who had a rest between his loss to Teehan and his final match. “It’s quite fun to play others from the other side of the world, which shows that darts is without borders, and during this difficult time it’s like we still support each other through darts.

“Even though the Home Tour does not have ranking points and there is no one watching you, I think all of our players still want to provide some competitive darts for those viewers who do tune in.”

The 29-year-old Dobey and Meulenkamp finished with two wins, with the Englishman winning the group on countback. Teehan was third with his one victory, over Leung.

Dobey, playing evening time in England, later tweeted his admiration for Leung. “Thoroughly enjoyed playing in tonight’s Home Tour and topping the group. Well done to all the lads for making it a great night and also a big well done to Kai on winning the last game. To throw the darts he threw against me at 5am takes some doing, fair play.”

The Home Tour features nightly four-strong groups taking each other on in a round-robin format, with each match a best-of-nine affair. The top players from each group advance to the next round.

Leung prepared for his session by practising with Briton’s world No 17 Stephen Bunting from midnight to 1am. All four players then logged on to an online chat room for a briefing before play started at around 3am.

“My game against Chris was the last game of the night, finishing at around 5am in the morning. I felt tired particularly on my second game [against Teehan] because it came straight after my first game after missing three darts on double 18.

“My checkout rate was not that great in my second game. I did not need to play the fourth and fifth games so it was good to have a rest and great to back on form again in beating Chris.”