Cappamore dart thrower Willie O'Connor in World Cup action

CAPPAMORE man Willie O'Connor is teaming up with Steve Lennon to represent the Republic of Ireland at the Betway PDC World Cup of Darts beginning tonight, Friday.

The Betway PDC World Cup of Darts got underway on Thursday night in Frankfurt, Germany. It is the 8th running of the tournament, which features 32 countries competing for the title.

Limerick man O'Connor and his partner Lennon are due to be in action on Friday night against Belgium in the fifth match up. The session begins at 6pm Irish time and will be covered live on Sky Sports.

There will be plenty of Irish representation, with Daryl Gurney and Brendan Dolan playing for Northern Ireland, and Limerick man O'Connor and Lennon making up the Republic of Ireland side. The two teams have plenty to be optimistic about.

Willie has played at every World Cup, but this is Steve's first. He is taking the place of Mick McGowan and previously another Limerick man Connie Finnan. Confidence is high within the camp, and it's easy to see why!

O'Connor, an experienced veteran on the international stage, has played in every World Cup, but this will be Lennon's first. It will be O'Connor's 8th World Cup appearance. He is an ever present and he has been at the centre of all the highs and lows this competition throws up.

Winning his group in 2014 with Connie Finnan, and beating Poland with Mick McGowan last year are amongst the highlights, while painful last leg defeats to Hong Kong and Australia the opposite end of the scale.

The Limerick man, a carpenter by trade, will be hoping to go deep into a World Cup this year, and use past memories to guide Lennon on his debut. The world number 56 has experience on his side, and will hope to bring this team further than it has ever gone before.

Willie is on the back of a decent 2017, where he reached the Last 16 of both the UK Open and Players Championships finals. Coupled with 3 quarter or semi finals on the floor, as well as winning the Tom Kirby Memorial Irish Matchplay and making his debut at the World Championships, there was not much for Willie to complain about.

In 2018, he has already reached a quarter final, as well as qualifying for the UK Open which he unfortunately had to miss due to adverse weather conditions. The man from Cappamore has played this tournament plenty of times, and his knowledge will help the team without doubt, in settling Lennon into his new role.

Steve Lennon is the only of the four who is making his debut this year. It has been a meteoric rise for the Carlow man, after only earning a Tour Card last year.

He burst onto the scene by qualifying for the Grand Slam last year where he reached the Last 16, before impressing at the World Championships, where Michael Smith defeated him in a last set thriller.

Only a couple of weeks ago, he defeated Mensur Suljovic and Kim Huybrechts on his way to a first senior PDC final in the Dutch Darts Masters in Zwolle. Michael van Gerwen beat him that day, but it was a significant achievement for Lennon. Through his ever-obliging manager Gerry Kennedy, Lennon told me "(Reaching the final) was an amazing feeling and a great career milestone to reach.

It has shown me that I am capable of competing at a high level and going far into tournaments. I had never previously reached the final day of a European Tour event so it was an amazing moment given my lack of experience in such tournaments."

Confidence will clearly be high for Steve Lennon after that run, and also after climbing into the Top 50 in the world recently. However, this is an unusual tournament in the sense the Round 1 games are played in pairs. Will this worry Steve? Clearly not! 

"I am really excited to represent Ireland for the first time in the PDC World Cup. I have always enjoyed watching it, so it's nice to be a part of it now!"

This might well be Ireland's most promising team to ever go to the World Cup. At only 31, Willie O'Connor is as experienced as anyone in this tournament, while Steve Lennon, who is only 24, has already proven to the darting world he has no fear on the big stage. What are their aims? 

"It's a bit of a change from what I'm used to,” Lennon admitted, referring to partner play and the quick fire format being the first to five legs the winner. ”So the main aim is to get over the first round match against Belgium and try and go as far as we can in the tournament.'

For the 3rd year running, Brendan Dolan and Daryl Gurney make up the Northern Ireland team going to Germany. Brendan Dolan is playing in his 8th World Cup, an ever present in the competition. The Fermanagh man has slipped to 37th in the PDC Order of Merit, but his recent displays would suggest he is beginning to rediscover the form that brought him as high as 10th in the rankings.

Brendan is probably most famous for reaching the final of the World Grand Prix in Dublin in 2011, hitting the first ever televised 'double in' 9 darter en route, earning himself the nickname, 'The History Maker.' He dropped out of the Top 32 of the rankings but his recent form offers plenty of hope for this weekend in Frankfurt.

Dolan is riding a wave of momentum. Last weekend was particularly productive for Dolan. On the Friday, he qualified for both European Tour events in Gibraltar and Denmark, making it through alongside 17 others in a 90+ man field. Then, he made 2 brilliant runs to the quarter finals on Saturday, and the semi finals on Sunday out of 128 players.

The form will certainly provide Brendan with plenty of confidence, and it comes at just the right time with the World Cup on his doorstep.

Daryl Gurney is the man who will partner Dolan at the World Cup. Daryl is on the back of the best 12 months of his career, in which he climbed to 5th on the PDC Order of Merit.

Daryl told me 'It was amazing being 4th in the rankings, but I've gone down to 5th now so I need to crack on!' The last year has seen him reach the semi finals of the UK Open and the World Matchplay, before winning the World Grand Prix, his home tournament, with a remarkable run.

Another semi final at the European Championships, followed by a quarter final at the Grand Slam brought him to the World Championships, where he got to the Last 32. Only last month, he finished 5th in the Premier League, a competition between 10 of the world's best players. It's been a cracking year for Daryl, and this will only give 'Superchin' the confidence to go far in the World Cup. 

'It's been up and down,” he said. "I've reached a few semis and a final but it's not good enough; I should have won an event by now. The Premier League took a lot out of me and to be honest, after only losing 4 out of 16 games, I should have made the play offs, but I'll knuckle down for the busy season now.'

So that's Northern Ireland's team, a Fermanagh man and a Derry man. What's the confidence like between the two? Well, clearly very high judging on Gurney's aims. He thinks they can win it all.

'We want to win of course! Brendan is back playing like he can after a tough time and I feel I'm playing really good darts.' 

Predictions:

For me, this year is possibly the most open World Cup ever. While Michael van Gerwen is on form as always, Raymond van Barneveld was involved in a social media incident last week which could hinder The Netherlands' chances.

After seeing Singapore last year, people will see Scotland as being potentially vulnerable, and England come in with debutant Rob Cross and Dave Chisnall, a man only showing glimpses of his best form. 

So who do I think will win it? Well, this is interesting but I fancy Northern Ireland to go all the way. With Brendan Dolan showing some great form, and Daryl Gurney playing some breath-taking stuff, it's hard to look past them as potential champions. 

And what about Republic of Ireland? As Steve said, it's all about their opening tie against Belgium. If they win, a semi final could be on the card, but if not, they'll be packing their bags. Whatever happens, we'll be cheering the teams on. 

Good luck lads!