Mickey Mansell sets up Northern Irish duel at PDC World Darts Championship

Mickey Mansell has qualified for the second round at the World Darts Championship at the expense of Xiaochen Zong (3-0). A showdown with his compatriot Brendan Dolan awaits at the last 64.

Zong did not manage to follow in the footsteps of fellow Asian Man Lok Leung, who surprisingly dealt with Gian van Veen earlier this tournament. However, the inexperienced Chinese did show off his skills with an average of 85.

Especially in the first set, Zong showed fine play. He opened the match with a 180 score and won his two own legs thanks to a 128 finish and a 13-darter. However, the set went 3-2 to his Northern Irish opponent, who threw a 14-darter in the fifth leg of set one.

Mansell then started the second set strongly with two 14-darters to take a 2-0 lead. Zong had two chances to halve the deficit, but missed his chances on tops. Mansell then took the second set 3-0 with a 56 finish. 'Clonoe Cyclone' then took the third set 3-1 to finally deal with his Chinese opponent.