FunPlus Phoenix Finalise VALORANT Roster With Xlele and coconut

FunPlus Phoenix have announced the signing of Colin “coconut” Chung and Zhao “Xlele” Yanbo, who finalise the Chinese VALORANT roster ahead of the final stage of the VALORANT Champions Tour.

Coconut and Xlele were announced as the newest members of FunPlus Phoenix on Thursday, June 25, replacing Zhang “BerLIN” Bolin and Shi “Ben1Ley” Benyu, who left the team on Wednesday.

Coconut joins FunPlus Phoenix from JD Gaming after a five-month stay with the Chinese team, whom he joined in January.

The 23-year-old made his VALORANT debut in 2023 with Oblivion Force before joining XLG Esports, with whom coconut won VCT 2025 China Stage 1 and placed top-eight at Masters Toronto.

In his debut VCT year, coconut also appeared at VALORANT Champions, but had to settle for a ninth-12th place finish following an early elimination from the group stage.

After a promising first year in VCT, coconut signed for JD Gaming, where he struggled to find as much success, placing seventh-eighth in the Kickoff event and fifth-sixth in Stage 1, missing out on both Masters events.

His new teammate, Xlele, joins FunPlus Phoenix with far less experience, having made his professional debut in May 2025 with Trace Esports.

The 21-year-old stayed with Trace Esports for 12 months, while also serving a loan stint with Thunder Gaming.

Much like coconut, Xlele has yet to reach major highs in the VALORANT scene, with his most notable accomplishments including a runner-up finish at Shanghai Esports Masters 2025 and a seventh-eighth place finish in this year’s VCT China Stage 1.

By signing for FunPlus Phoenix, the duo will link up with Zhang “AAAAY” Yang, Ou “Setrod” Tai-keng, and Blendi “kovaQ” Kovaci.

Together, they will help FPX with the tough task of chasing a qualification spot for the season-ending VALORANT Champions.

Currently ranked eighth in the VCT China Championship Points standings, FunPlus Phoenix are four points short of breaking into the top four and 15 points short of catching the current leaders, EDward Gaming.

Barring any surprises, FPX’s best chance of qualifying for VALORANT Champions is placing in the top two in Stage 2. Due to the presence of heavyweights such as EDward Gaming, XLG Esports, All Gamers, and Dragon Ranger Gaming, that will be easier said than done.

FunPlus Phoenix are set to debut their new roster in VCT China Stage 2, scheduled to kick off on July 9, 2026.

Mark Prezelj

Esports Betting Analyst

Mark Prezelj is a Slovenian esports betting analyst with over 3,500 articles at EsportBet and the founder of Lines64.com — someone who has been reading odds longer than most readers have been watching esports.

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