Lourence Ilagan, Motomu Sakai, Ryusei Azemoto and Paul Lim confirmed their qualification for the 2025/26 Paddy Power World Darts Championship as the 2025 PDC Asian Tour concluded in China.
The year’s final Asian Tour double-header action saw Events 25-28 take place in Qingdao on September 11-12, as the race for Alexandra Palace qualification reached a dramatic conclusion.
Hong Kong’s World Cup of Darts quarter-finalist Lok Yin Lee claimed Event 25 victory on Thursday, edging out Japanese star Sakai in a last-leg decider to clinch his first title of the campaign.
Lee also defeated the Filipino trio of Paolo Nebrida, Toylo and former PDC Asian Champion Christian Perez on his way to securing the third Asian Tour title of his career.
Toylo was already assured of his World Championship qualification ahead of this weekend, but he cemented top spot on the Asian Tour rankings with Event 26 success later on Thursday.
The left-hander stormed to victory with a brace of whitewash victories, following up a semi-final demolition of Aris Quijano with another five-leg blitz against Ilagan, aided by a 99 average.
Three-time World Championship qualifier Nebrida then joined the winner’s circle in Event 27 on Friday, winning through a high-quality decider against Japan’s Tomoya Goto.
Nebrida produced legs of 13, 12 and 13 darts to overturn a 4-2 deficit in the final, having followed up a quarter-final whitewash of Toylo with another 5-4 victory against Ryuta Arihara in the semi-finals.
However, it was Arihara’s fellow countryman Ryusei Azemoto who stole the show in Event 28, celebrating his third title of the year to confirm his World Championship qualification.
Azemoto ran out a 5-3 winner against Man Lok Leung in their huge winner-takes-all showdown, reeling off four straight legs from 3-1 adrift to confirm his World Championship qualification.
The Japanese star also dumped out Nebrida in the Event 28 semi-finals, which saw him overhaul both players and seal an immediate return to Alexandra Palace, following his debut 12 months ago.
He will be joined in the sport’s flagship event by his compatriot Sakai, who claimed a quartet of titles across the season to confirm his debut in the World Championship.
Ilagan will make his tenth World Championship appearance – and his eighth in succession – after finishing the season in third spot on the Asian Tour rankings, having also won four titles in 2025.
Azemoto surged up to fourth spot following his heroics in Qingdao, while Singapore’s darting icon Lim claimed the fifth and final place on the Asian Tour rankings.
The 71-year-old won a brace of titles in Dubai and Kuala Lumpur earlier this year, and he will make his first World Championship appearance since the 2021/22 event in December.
Following the conclusion of the PDC Asian Tour, the PDC Asian Championship season now takes place on September 13-14 in Qingdao, as 48 players battle it out for the coveted title across a bumper weekend of action.
The winner of the PDC Asian Championship will secure a spot in the 2025 Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts, with both finalists progressing to play in the 2025/26 Paddy Power World Darts Championship.
If both finalists have already qualified for the World Darts Championship, the two spots at Alexandra Palace will be allocated to Leung and Nebrida, who finished sixth and seventh respectively on the 2025 Asian Tour rankings.
2025 PDC Asian Tour
September 11-12, Qingdao, China
Event 25
Quarter-Finals
Lok Yin Lee 4-2 Alexis Toylo
Christian Perez 4-0 Alain AbiAbi
Lourence Ilagan 4-0 Tong Xu
Motomu Sakai 4-2 Man Lok Leung
Semi-Finals
Lok Yin Lee 5-4 Christian Perez
Motomu Sakai 5-4 Lourence Ilagan
Final
Lok Yin Lee 5-4 Motomu Sakai
Event 26
Quarter-Finals
Alexis Toylo 4-3 Ryan Khristoffer Condat
Aris Quijano 4-1 Phuay Wei Tan
Lourence Ilagan 4-1 Norisame Atan
Alain AbiAbi 4-2 Yuta Hayashi
Semi-Finals
Alexis Toylo 5-0 Aris Quijano
Lourence Ilagan 5-2 Alain AbiAbi
Final
Alexis Toylo 5-0 Lourence Ilagan
Event 27
Quarter-Finals
Paolo Nebrida 4-0 Alexis Toylo
Ryuta Arihara 4-0 Melvin Jun Long Zheng
Tomoya Goto 4-1 Ryan Khristoffer Condat
Motomu Sakai 4-2 Norisame Atan
Semi-Finals
Paolo Nebrida 5-4 Ryuta Arihara
Tomoya Goto 5-2 Motomu Sakai
Final
Paolo Nebrida 5-4 Tomoya Goto
Event 28
Quarter-Finals
Paolo Nebrida 4-2 Rodolfo Escharos Jr.
Ryusei Azemoto 4-1 Timothy Ryan Theseira
Sonny Balagat 4-0 Ryuta Arihara
Man Lok Leung 4-2 Haruki Muramatsu
Semi-Finals
Ryusei Azemoto 5-2 Paolo Nebrida
Man Lok Leung 5-3 Sonny Balagat
Final
Ryusei Azemoto 5-3 Man Lok Leung