William O'Connor (darts player)

William O'Connor
Personal information
Nickname The Magpie
Born (1986-07-15) 15 July 1986
Republic of Ireland
Home town Cappamore, County Limerick
Ireland
Darts information
Playing darts since 2005
Laterality Right-handed
Organisation (see split in darts)
PDC 2010–
Current world ranking 68
BDO majors - best performances
World Masters Last 264: 2009
PDC premier events - best performances
World Grand Prix Last 32: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015
UK Open Last 16: 2015
US Open/WSoD Last 256: 2010
Other tournament wins
Ireland Players Championship 2011
John O'Loughlin Memorial Open 2010

William (Willie) O'Connor (born 15 July 1986) is an Irish darts player. He currently plays in Professional Darts Corporation events.

Career

He first came to prominence in the 2010 UK Open when he impressively defeated Stuart Monaghan in the First Round by 6 legs to 0. He then defeated Mark Frost and Peter Wright to reach the fourth round, where he played world number 3 James Wade on the main board and lost 9 legs to 3.

O'Connor qualified for the 2010 World Grand Prix, where he lost to Barrie Bates in the first round by 2 sets to 0.

O'Connor along with Mick McGowan represented Ireland at the inaugural PDC World Cup of Darts in 2010. The pair defeated Slovakia in the first round 6 legs to 3. However, they were narrowly beaten 6 legs to 5 in the second round to the Australian duo of Simon Whitlock and Paul Nicholson, who were number 4 and 16 in the world rankings respectively.

He played in his second World Cup for Ireland in 2012, again paired with McGowan and, as in 2010, they reached the second round this time by defeating Malaysia 5–2.[1] They played the same Australian pair as in 2010 next and were whitewashed 0–4.[2] The next week he reached the quarter-finals of the first UK Open Qualifier, but was defeated by Kevin Painter 4–6.[3] This would later prove to be O'Connor's deepest run in a tournament in 2012.[4] During the year he qualified for three of the five European Tour events. He was knocked out in the first round of the first two, but at the German Darts Masters he saw off Painter 6–5, before losing 3–6 to Wayne Jones.[5] O'Connor was one of the two Irish qualifiers for the World Grand Prix and missed a dart for the match in the first round against Vincent van der Voort, losing 1–2 in sets.[6]

O'Connor began 2013 ranked world number 54,[7] and played in his third World Cup of Darts and first with Connie Finnan in February.[8] The pair beat Denmark 5–0 in their first match and despite losing to South Africa 4–5 they finished top of Group B on leg difference to reach the last 16.[9] They faced Japan and were defeated 3–5.[10] O'Connor was beaten 9–4 by Dave Chisnall in the third round of the UK Open having earlier seen off Robbie Singleton and Johnny Haines.[11] He struggled for form after this until the first weekend of November when he lost in the last 16 to Mensur Suljović and Gary Anderson in two Players Championships, earning himself £2,000 in the process.[12]

O'Connor entered 2014 ranked world number 68, just outside the top 64 who had full playing privileges for the year ahead.[13] He entered Q School and had his best result on the third day when he was defeated 5–0 by Pete Dyos in the last 16.[14] The result helped him finish 24th on the Q School Order of Merit to claim the final place on offer for a two-year tour card.[15] He was edged out in the third round of the UK Open 9–8 by Jamie Lewis.[16] O'Connor and Finnan lost five successive legs in the first round of the World Cup of Darts to be beaten 5–3 by Singapore.[17] He was knocked out in the first round of two European Tour events, before picking up his first victory of the season at the European Darts Trophy by averaging 104.36 in a 6–4 win over Mensur Suljović.[18][19] In the second round, O'Connor was 5–4 ahead of Justin Pipe but bust his score when on 70 and missed one match dart at double six to be beaten 6–5.[20]

At the 2015 UK Open, O'Connor overcame Dean Winstanley 5–3, Mark Webster 9–5 and Ian White 9–6 to reach the fifth round of the event for the first time where he played Stephen Bunting.[21] The opening eight legs were shared, before Bunting took four of the next five and he went on to eliminate O'Connor 9–6.[22] He saw off Ian White 6–1 and Vincent van der Voort 6–3 to reach his first quarter-final in three years and first in a European Tour event at the German Darts Masters. O'Connor led world number one Michael van Gerwen 3–1, but went on to lose 6–4 despite taking out three 100 plus finishes.[23] O'Connor and Finnan's World Cup second round match with Hong Kong went to a doubles match which they lost 4–3.[24] O'Connor was unable to advance past the first round of the World Grand Prix for the fourth time as he missed two match darts against Jamie Lewis.[25]

O'Connor was beaten 6–5 by Jeffrey de Graaf in the second round of the UK Open.[26] He ousted Tomas Seyler 6–3 and Kim Huybrechts 6–1 at the German Darts Masters, before losing 6–2 to Gary Anderson in the third round.[27] O'Connor did not get past the last 64 of any individual event in the rest of the year.[28] At the World Cup he and Mick McGowan squeezed past Hong Kong 5–4 in the first round, but they exited the tournament in the next round after they lost their singles matches to the Northern Irish team of Daryl Gurney and Brendan Dolan.[29]

References

  1. ↑ "Cash Converters World Cup RD1". PDC. 3 February 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  2. ↑ "Cash Converters World Cup Round Two Doubles Round-Up". PDC. 4 February 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  3. ↑ "2012 UK Open Qualifier Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  4. ↑ "Willie O'Connor 2012". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  5. ↑ "2012 PDC German Darts Masters Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  6. ↑ "PartyPoker.com WGP – Monday". PDC. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  7. ↑ "Order of Merit on 1 January 2013". PDC. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  8. ↑ "Betfair World Cup of Darts Groups". PDC. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  9. ↑ "Betfair World Cup of Darts – Saturday Afternoon". PDC. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  10. ↑ "Betfair World Cup of Darts – Last 16". PDC. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  11. ↑ "Speedy Services UK Open – Friday". PDC. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  12. ↑ "Willie O'Connor 2013". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 29 November 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  13. ↑ "Order of Merit on 2 January 2014". PDC. Archived from the original on 18 January 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  14. ↑ "2014 PDC Tour Card Qualifying School Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  15. ↑ "2014 PDC Qualifying School Day Four". PDC. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  16. ↑ "Coral UK Open – Friday Evening". PDC. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  17. ↑ "bwin World Cup of Darts First Round". PDC. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  18. ↑ "William O'Connor 2014". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 1 December 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  19. ↑ "European Darts Trophy Day One". PDC. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  20. ↑ "European Darts Trophy Day Two". PDC. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  21. ↑ "Coral UK Open Fourth Round". PDC. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  22. ↑ "Coral UK Open Fifth Round". PDC. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  23. ↑ "Million Pound van Gerwen's Munich Triumph!". PDC. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  24. ↑ "bwin World Cup of Darts Second Round". PDC. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  25. ↑ "partypoker.com World Grand Prix - Sunday". PDC. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  26. ↑ "2016 Coral UK Open Day One". PDC. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  27. ↑ "2016 PDC German Darts Masters Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  28. ↑ "Willie O'Connor 2016". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 12 November 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  29. ↑ "2016 PDC World Cup of Darts Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
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