William O'Connor (darts player)

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. They played the same Australian pair as in 2010 next and were whitewashed 0–4. The next week he reached the quarter-finals of the first UK Open Qualifier, but was defeated by Kevin Painter 4–6. This would later prove to be O'Connor's deepest run in a tournament in 2012. 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. 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.

O'Connor began 2013 ranked world number 54, and played in his third World Cup of Darts and first with Connie Finnan in February. 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. They faced Japan and were defeated 3–5. 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. 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.

O'Connor entered 2014 ranked world number 68, just outside the top 64 who had full playing privileges for the year ahead. 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. 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. He was edged out in the third round of the UK Open 9–8 by Jamie Lewis. 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. 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. 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.

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. The opening eight legs were shared, before Bunting took four of the next five and he went on to eliminate O'Connor 9–6. 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. O'Connor and Finnan's World Cup second round match with Hong Kong went to a doubles match which they lost 4–3. 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.

O'Connor was beaten 6–5 by Jeffrey de Graaf in the second round of the UK Open. 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. O'Connor did not get past the last 64 of any individual event in the rest of the year. 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.

O'Connor just avoided having to enter Q School in 2017 as he was ranked 64th on the Order of Merit.