This article was originally published in Darts Planet TV’s magazine. Click here to view the piece on their website.
Once a passionate long-distance runner, Kai Fan Leung’s original outlook on darts was a disparaging one. “I was quite reluctant to play darts in the beginning,” Leung said. “I thought it was a stupid and boring game as I preferred more outdoor sports.”
One of the Asian number one’s earliest darting memories involves a soft-tip final between Stephen Bunting and Royden Lam – two players who would subsequently prove crucial figures in his journey to the professional echelons.
“Royden introduced me to Q School. He opened my eyes to the professional elites in the darts world,” an appreciative Leung said. Bunting has likewise provided much support towards him. “We now fly out to tournaments together,” he added. “He’s a wonderful person, very helpful and always cheers me up.”
Despite now earning a living from the more renowned form of the sport, Hong Kong’s Leung began his career playing soft-tip darts, similar to the majority of Asian players who have emerged onto the scene.
“In Hong Kong most people start playing darts as soft-tip players because in bars they only have soft-tip machines to generate revenue as people would put coins in to play darts,” Leung explained.
“After I started to play well in the soft-tip leagues, I was encouraged by some team members to play steel leagues too. I then started to enjoy playing and practising both soft-tip and steel-tip darts.
“Even though people always say the board is bigger, playing soft-tip games also trains you well to handle under pressure situations and access yourself to minimise errors.
“It’s another mentality and form of training too which helped my steel-tip darts a bit. Of course, there’s still a lot to learn in steel darts, the rhythm, the calculation too.”
At the backend of 2015, Leung would shelve his stockbroker position of employment in order to pursue his darting dream. His audacious decision would arrive roughly a year prior to his first taste of professional darts.
“I thought 2017 was a brand new experience which I never had – which also shaped how I am today now,” the Hongkonger added after appearing on television multiple times throughout the season.
“Royden would go to Q School in the January so I had the chance to go with him and play a bit at Q School, watching Royden come from behind to win his board final against Jose de Sousa, and managing to qualify for the UK Open in Minehead.
“I then represented Hong Kong in the World Cup of Darts, before winning the North East Asian Qualifier in Taiwan, and stepped onto the Ally Pally stage in December.
“It seems that all the good things and experiences happened three years ago, experiences I thought were unreachable before they actually happened.
“It was a brilliant PDC experience I had which was a lot of learning the foundations, observing and trying to understand what the players requirements or routines were – which led me over to where I am now.”
His debut season on the professional scene would reach its climax with Leung making his Alexandra Palace debut. Asian darts legend Paul Lim, aged 63 at the time, stood in his way.
“I still recall the day when Paul won the East Asian Qualifier in Thailand,” Leung revealed, “I was representing Hong Kong at the WDF World Cup in Japan.
“Me and my team manager were watching his live-stream. After he won, we were talking and he told me to win the North Asian spot. I was so happy to eventually qualify as well.
“Paul basically resides in Hong Kong now and has lived there for seven or eight years. He enlightened a lot of young and new players, especially me as well.
“We were planning to practise a bit with each other before the World Championship, until we found out the draw then we didn’t actually practise together!
“It could be a good thing or a bad thing to play someone you know on the big stage, in the end it was a massive experience for me to play at Ally Pally. Later on that night, Paul won against Mark Webster with everyone chanting and shouting his name. It was massive.
“Since then, I think I played a lot and learned a lot from Paul as he represented Hong Kong now and again so we travelled and sometimes shared a room together.”
Just over two years in advance from his World Championship debut, Leung would defeat the esteemed female thrower Lisa Ashton and secure his coveted professional tour card at second attempt.
The left-hander had already decided before attending the gruelling, intense Qualifying School that, if he were to reign victorious, he would relocate to England. This was a first for an Asian player to do so and reinforces the dedication of Leung whilst leaving his family behind.
“When I turned full-time just over four years ago, I played mostly in Asia, maybe two or three times in Europe. A total of possibly 20-30 times flying out for competitions a year, so my family got used to it,” he added.
“It was hard for my family. I still remember my first time playing in the World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt in first week of June in 2017, I then rushed back to Hong Kong as my wife gave birth to our daughter.
“But now the situation is a bit different as now I’ve relocated to Liverpool for a longer stay. It’s inevitably separated me and my family, but they are planning to move over to the UK next year – which could be a good thing for us.
“As long as I won the tour card, my mind told me I need to commit and play most of the PDC tournaments even if I couldn’t win a penny in order to not waste the chance.
“And luckily, my cousin has lived in Liverpool for over 10 years, so I could stay with him, otherwise I couldn’t imagine how hard it would turn out to be actually staying and playing in the UK.
“Now living in England, not much has changed apart from the style of living. Of course the hardest part is living away from my family and friends.”
Since resettling in the North West of England, the professional newbie has formed a fantastic friendship with former world champion Stephen Bunting. “He’s helped a lot I must say,” Leung expressed.
“In the darts world or any workplace or any communities, you need friends to get involved, learn from them, and push each other moving forward.
“I think it’s a coincidence that I sat on Stephen’s table in the very first Players Championship event in Barnsley and introduced myself.
“He’s in St. Helens, I for the time being am in Liverpool, so he invited me to join his league in St Helens. I remember chalking for him and Michael Smith in a league which was memorable.
“I’ve got to know his family too. He brought me to Liverpool games at Anfield. Even the times we were in lockdown, I returned to Hong Kong, we still chatted to know our current status.
“We now fly out to tournaments together as well. He’s a wonderful person, very helpful and always cheers me up. That gives me a lot of confidence as well, whether I am up or down.
“I quite rely on darts league members as I played like three times a week in a league in Hong Kong, it’s like a family. With Stephen, Dave [Chisnall] and Ricky [Evans] on the tour, at least you have somebody to rely on and chat to when you are in a good or bad run of days.”
Leung will be tremendously hoping his second year on British soil is poles apart compared to his inaugural year in England. The global coronavirus pandemic has meant his debut season has become severely decimated.
“I mean since Covid hits, all sectors have been hurt,” he articulated. “In Asia, people are bit more cautious with the virus than the European or US way. Even right now there is not too many Covid cases in Asia, but tournaments and leagues have not been restarted yet.
“It’s bad timing for anybody, darts players as well. For me, being able to play in the Summer Series, Autumn Series and upcoming Winter Series is a blessed situation under these difficult circumstances. But of course, I would rather have a proper schedule of darts then this intermittent schedule.”
As a strenuous backend of the year awaits, more opportunities are in store for the bespectacled thrower blazing a trail for his continent, including an increasing likely return to the sport’s showpiece tournament.
Leung explained his aspirations for the coming months. “At the very start when I first joined this game, I felt like touching stones while crossing a river, it was like an experiment process,” he expressed.
“As there are new accomplishments and new targets or goals coming ahead, I still feel like it’s still an experiment process. But I will never give in, no matter how the consequence lies.
“I give 100 percent in all my games, whether they are league games or in a proper tournament, I think they all shape the way I am now. All I hope is to hang in there, keep playing and performing, and polish my skills to match the elite.”
From brushing aside a four-time women’s world champion to celebrating with his dog Bauble at 5am during the PDC Home Tour, it’s been a memorable year for Hong Kong’s darting pioneer with many more waiting to follow.
