THE FACTS
When is William O’Connor vs Marko Kantele taking place? Monday 16th December, 2019 – evening
Where is William O’Connor vs Marko Kantele taking place? Alexandra Palace, London
What channel is William O’Connor vs Marko Kantele on? Sky Sports Darts
Where can I stream William O’Connor vs Marko Kantele? Sky Sports subscribers can stream the match online via Sky Go
Where can I get tickets for William O’Connor vs Marko Kantele? https://www.pdc.tv/william-hill-world-darts-championship-tickets
What was the outcome in the last meeting? N/A
THE PLAYERS
WILLIAM O’CONNOR
- William O’Connor is making his third consecutive appearance at the PDC World Championship. Despite being a regular competitor on the PDC tour for a number of years he only made his World Championship debut two years ago.
- At the 2018/19 World Championship he made it through to the third round before losing to Ryan Searle, earlier in the tournament he posted an impressive average of 98.73 in defeating James Wilson 3-2.
- O’Connor has enjoyed some stand-out moments in his career this season. He won his first PDC ranking tournament title, reached the final at the World Cup of Darts alongside Steve Lennon and made a first major ranking quarter-final appearance at the recent Players Championship Finals.
MARKO KANTELE
- Marko Kantele has twice previously qualified for the PDC World Championship but has never made it past the last 64. He made his World Championship debut in the BDO version all the way back in 2005.
- He earned his place at Alexandra Palace this year via the PDC Nordic and Baltic Order of Merit, although he finished third, he still made it through as Darius Labanauskas had already qualified for the tournament.
- A World Cup of Darts regular for Finland, Kantele won his tour card at European Q School in January and has been competing regularly on the main circuit this season though without any notable success.
THE PREDICTION
William O’Connor has improved consistently over the last couple of years and has enjoyed some excellent achievements in 2019 with a ranking title under his belt and some memorable performances in helping Ireland to the World Cup of Darts final. O’Connor again showed at the Players Championship Finals that he is a player on the rise and although he faces a potentially tough challenge in the form of the experienced Finnish player Kantele, the belief O’Connor possesses right now should mean he comes through to reach round two.