He said he wouldn’t back down and he’s a man of his word.
After striding out to the music of the late Tom Petty, Limerick’s Willie O’Connor took to the Ally Pally stage like a man inspired. And he got the crowd going too.
O’Connor meant business from the word-go.
An undoubtedly talented player, the 32-year-old has put himself in great positions before in games but he’s often struggled to close them out when the pressure came on.
This confident entrance was a signal that the he was going to be a different animal this time around and that was exactly how it turned out.
In what was only his second ever appearance at the World Darts Championships, the talented 32-year-old thrown consistently high averages from the very first set, and in truth, he never gave his Dutch opponent a look in.
He went onto win on a whitewash, by three clear sets to nil and he now bounds onto the second round of this competition where he will take on 46-year-old Englishman James Wilson.
O’Connor settled the nerves early on, closing out the first set with an unflinching double 18 and though his Dutch opponent would put it up to him on occasions, the Irish man was comfortable for the most part.
Here’s his double 18 that closed out the first.
ADVANTAGE O'CONNOR | The Irishman takes the first set #WHDarts pic.twitter.com/gNYO0eqVlu
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 16, 2018
He was in the groove from then on, and he bolted home with a flashy 107 sealing the deal for him.
STRAIGHT SETS | O'Connor impresses the Ally Pally crowd with a 3️⃣- 0️⃣ win over Meeuwisse #WHDarts pic.twitter.com/FT0JwtjFH1
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 16, 2018
Great darts from the Irish man, fair play.
https://twitter.com/irishdartsfan/status/1074307351853834240
