Limerick arrowsmith William O'Connor begins World Championship glory bid

LIMERICK man William O'Connor will begin his glory bid at the PDC World Darts Championship in London this Monday night.

Cappamore man O'Connor is due to face Finland's Marko Kantele in the opening round of the 2019/2020 William Hill World Darts Championship at the Alexandra Palace.

O'Connor's match is the second one up in Monday's evening session which begins at 7pm.

Should be come through that match successfully, O'Connor will be back in action on this Thursday, December 19 against back-to-back Grand Slam of Darts champion Gerwyn Price, of Wales, in the second round of the championships.

World Cup finalist O'Connor reached the third round of the William Hill World Darts Championship 12 months ago before suffering a 4-1 defeat to England’s Ryan Searle at the ‘Ally Pally.’

Thirty three-year-old former carpenter O'Connor moved up to 37 in the world rankings on the back of him reaching the quarter-finals of the Ladbrokes Players Championship recently.

Some 96 of the world's best players will compete from December 13 to January 1, 2020 at the 'Ally Pally' for the Sid Waddell Trophy and a total of stg£2.5 million in prize money.

The winner pf the tournament will pocket stg£500,000, while the runner-up receives stg£200,000 and the two beaten semi-finalists will earn stg£100,000 each.

An stg£100,000 bonus is on offer for any player who hits two nine-dart finishes in the tournament.

The William Hill World Darts Championship is televised live on Sky Sports.

The first round of the William Hill World Darts Championship is played across the opening 11 sessions, featuring 32 qualifiers from the ProTour Order of Merit - based on prize money won across 43 non-televised events in 2019 - and 32 International Qualifiers.

The third round is split either side of the Christmas break, with the fourth round being played on December 27-28 ahead of the quarter-finals across two sessions on December 29.

The semi-finals on Monday December 30 will be followed by the final on Wednesday, January 1 as sport's first World Champion of 2020 is crowned after 16 days and 28 sessions of action.