Schedule revealed for Limerick's William O'Connor at World Darts Championship

LIMERICK arrowsmith William O'Connor will begin his bid for glory at the 2021/22 William Hill World Darts Championship on Thursday, December 16.

Cappamore mqn O'Connor will take on American Danny Lauby in the first match up in the evening session at the Alexandra Palace, London, which is due to get underway at 7pm. The match will be televised live on Sky Sports.

The William Hill World Darts Championships run from December 15 through to January 3 at the 'Ally Pally' and boasts a total prizefund of stg£2.5 million.

Thirty five-year-old O'Connor, nicknamed The Magpie, reached the second round of the 2020/2021 World Championship before losing out narrowly 3-2 to Daryl Gurney, of Northern Ireland, in a deciding set.

World ranked number 42 O'Connor had earlier defeated Niels Zonneveld, of the Netherlands, in the opening round of the tournament.

Should O'Connor overcome Lauby and reach the second round of the World Darts Championships, he will face 24 seed Glen Durrant, of England. Middlesbrough native Durrant is a three-time BDO world champion.

Limerick man William O'Connor reached the last 16 of the stg£500,000 Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals recently after two thrilling wins at Butlin's Minehead Resort.

O'Connor defeated world number 12 Krzysztof Ratajski, of Poland, 6-4 to advance to the third round where he lost out to top seed Jose De Sousa.

The Limerick arrowsmith defied no fewer than 10 x 180 throws from England's Chris Dobey to steal a 6-5 victory in their opening round contest on Friday night.

William O'Connor's first round 2021/22 PDC William Hill World Darts Championship opponent Danny Lauby finished top of the CDC US Tour Final Standings, securing him a return to Alexandra Palace where he made his debut in December 2020, narrowly losing 3-2 to Ryan Searle.