Marko Kantele

Marko Kantele (born 24 August 1968 in Mäntyharju) is a Finnish darts player.

Marko Kantele
Personal information
Born (1968-08-24) 24 August 1968
Mäntyharju, Finland
Home townVääksy
Darts information
Playing darts since1989
Darts21g Magnum
LateralityRight-handed
Walk-on music"The Trooper" by Iron Maiden
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO1996–2008
PDC2008–
Current world ranking83 4 (3 January 2021)[1]
BDO majors – best performances
World Ch'shipLast 16: 2005
World MastersLast 16: 1997, 2004
World Darts TrophyLast 32: 2004, 2005
Int. Darts LeagueLast 32: 2005
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'shipLast 64: 2009, 2018
UK OpenLast 128: 2019, 2020
Other tournament wins
PDC European Tour Nordic and Baltic Qualifier 2017 (x2), 2018 (x2)
PDC World Finland Qualifying Event 2008

SDC Pro Tour

PDCNB Finland 2017, 2018
PDCNB Iceland 2019
PDCNB Norway 2017
PDCNB Sweden 2018
SDC Finland 2015
SDC Sweden 2014

Career

Kantele made his major debut in the 1997 Winmau World Masters, beating defending champion Colin Monk in the first round but lost in the second round to Mark Day. He returned to the Masters five years later, losing in the second round to Ted Hankey. Kantele made a third appearance at the Masters, beating Bobby George and Remco van Eijden to reach the last 16 where he lost to Martin Atkins. He also played in the 2004 World Darts Trophy, losing in the first round to Robert Wagner.

Kantele qualified for the 2005 BDO World Darts Championship, beating Tony O'Shea in the first round before losing in the second round to Simon Whitlock. He also played in the International Darts League the same year, winning his opening group game against Mario Robbe but lost to Raymond van Barneveld and Atkins, eliminating him from the group stages. He also played in the 2005 World Darts Trophy, but lost in the first round to Vincent van der Voort. Kantele reached the last 32 of the 2006 World Masters and reached the last 32, losing to Darryl Fitton. Kantele reached the quarter finals of the 2007 WDF World Cup but failed to qualify for the World Championship.

Kantele won the PDC World Finland Qualifying Event, beating Asko Niskala in the final. The win earned him a spot in the 2009 PDC World Darts Championship and made him Finland's first ever representative.[2] He beat Lourence Ilagan 5–2 in legs in the preliminary round, but lost 3–1 in sets to Ronnie Baxter in the first round. Afterwards, Kantele began playing in PDC Europe events competing for the European Order of Merit.

Kantele represented Finland with Petri Korte in the 2012 PDC World Cup of Darts and together they were beaten 4–5 by Croatia in the first round.[3] His best result in the rest of 2012 was in reaching the semi-finals of a Scandinavian tour event in Finland where he lost 1–6 to Ulf Ceder.[4][5] He finished 11th on the SDC Order of Merit.[6] In January 2013 he entered the PDC's Q School to try and earn a two-year tour card but he finished joint 95th having played all four days with his best result being a last 64 defeat.[7] In September, Kantele lost in the final of the Sawo Open to Veijo Viinikka.[8]

In the second Swedish event on the 2014 Scandinavian Pro Tour, Kantele won the title by defeating Jarkko Komula 6–4.[9] He also reached the final of the Nordic Cup, but lost 4–2 against Daniel Larsson.[10] Kantele played in his first World Cup since 2012 in 2015 and first with Kim Viljanen and they were beaten 5–4 by South Africa in the opening round with Kantele missing one match dart.[11] He won the final event on the 2015 Scandinavian Darts Corporation Pro Tour by edging past Magnus Caris 6–5.[12]

Kantele and Viljanen lost 5–1 in the first round of the 2016 World Cup to Wales.[13] In 2017 Viljanen missed two match darts in the first round as they were knocked out 5–4 by Wales.[14]

By finishing second on the 2019 European Q-School Order of Merit, he earned a PDC Tour Card for 2019–2020.

World Championship results

BDO

PDC

Performance timeline

PDC

Tournament2009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021
PDC World Championship 1R Did not qualify Did not qualify 1R DNQ 1R 1R
UK Open Did not qualify 2R 2R
Non-major televised events
PDC World Cup of Darts NH 1R NH 1R Did not qualify 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R 1R
Career statistics
Year-end ranking 90 151 156 155 - - - - 116 112 103

BDO

Tournament19971998–200020012002200320042005200620072008–201220132014201520162017
BDO World Championship Did not play 2R Did not play Did not qualify
Winmau World Masters L16 Did not play L32 DNP L16 DNP L32 L40 DNP L144 L272 L272 L272 DNP
Zuiderduin Masters Not held Did not play RR NH Did not play
World Darts Trophy Not held Did not play 1R 1R Did not play Not held
International Darts League Not held Did not play RR Did not play Not held
Performance Table Legend
DNP Did not play at the event DNQ Did not qualify for the event NYF Not yet founded #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QF lost in the quarter-finals SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament

References
  1. "PDC Order of Merit". PDC.tv. 3 January 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  2. "Kantele Wins World Championship Place". Archived from the original on 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
  3. "Cash Converters World Cup RD1". PDC. 3 February 2012. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  4. "2012 SDC Finland Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
  5. "Marko Kantele 2012". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 12 February 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
  6. "SDC Season Ends On High". PDC. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
  7. "PDC Qualifying School Day Four". PDC. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  8. "2013 Sawo Open Player Prize Money". Darts Database. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  9. "2014 SDC Sweden Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  10. "2014 Nordic Cup Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  11. "bwin World Cup of Darts Day Two". PDC. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  12. "2015 SDC Finland Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  13. "Betway World Cup of Darts Day Two". PDC. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  14. "Betway World Cup of Darts Day One". PDC. Archived from the original on 12 June 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
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