Marko Kantele

Last updated

Marko Kantele
Personal information
Born (1968-08-24) 24 August 1968 (age 56)
Mäntyharju, Finland
Home town Vääksy, Finland
Darts information
Playing darts since1989
Darts18g Target
Laterality Right-handed
Walk-on music"The Trooper" by Iron Maiden
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO 1996–2008
PDC 2008–
Current world ranking ( PDC ) 164 Decrease2.svg 4 (30 July 2025) [1]
WDF major events – best performances
World Championship Last 16: 2005
World Masters Last 16: 1997, 2004
World Trophy Last 32: 2004, 2005
Int. Darts League Last 32: 2005
Dutch Open Last 1024: 2025
PDC premier events – best performances
World Championship Last 64: 2009, 2018
UK Open Last 128: 2019, 2020
Other tournament wins
Irish Open 2024
PDCNB Euro Qualifier 2017 (x2), 2018 (x2), 2022
PDC World Qualifier 2008

SDC Tour

SDC Finland 2015
SDC Sweden 2014

PDCNB Tour

PDCNB Denmark 2023
PDCNB Finland 2017, 2018, 2023
PDCNB Iceland 2019, 2021, 2023
PDCNB Latvia 2022, 2024
PDCNB Norway 2017
PDCNB Sweden 2018, 2023, 2025
Medal record
Men's Darts
Representing Flag of Finland.svg  Finland
WDF World Cup
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2001 Kuala Lumpur Men's pairs
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2001 Kuala Lumpur Men's team
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2001 Kuala Lumpur Men's overall
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2007 Rosmalen Men's pairs
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1997 Perth Men's team
WDF Europe Cup
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2006 Ennis Men's pairs
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2008 Copenhagen Men's pairs
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2004 Tampere Men's singles
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2004 Tampere Men's team
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2004 Tampere Men's overall
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2006 Ennis Men's overall
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2018 Budapest Men's team

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

Contents

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

WDF

PDC

Performance timeline

PDC

Tournament20092010201220152016201720182019202020212022202320242025
World Championship 1R Did not qualify 1R DNQ 1R 1R DNQ 1R DNQ
UK Open Did not qualify 2R 2R Did not qualify
Non-ranked televised events
World Cup NH 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R RR RR RR
Career statistics
Year-end ranking90151155--11611210384-178129154

BDO

Tournament199720022004200520062007201320142015201620222024
World Championship Did not participate 2R Did not participate
World Darts Trophy NHDNP 1R 1R DNPNot held
Winmau World Masters L16 L32 L16 DNP L32 L40 L144 L272 L272 L272 RR L128

PDC European Tour

Season1234567891011121314
2014 GDC
DNP
DDM
DNP
GDM
DNP
ADO
1R
GDT
DNP
EDO
DNP
EDG
DNP
EDT
DNP
2017 GDC
DNQ
GDM
DNQ
GDO
1R
EDG
DNQ
GDT
DNQ
EDM
2R
ADO
DNQ
EDO
DNQ
DDM
DNQ
GDG
DNQ
IDO
DNQ
EDT
DNQ
2018 EDO
2R
GDG
DNQ
GDO
DNQ
ADO
DNQ
EDG
DNQ
DDM
DNQ
GDT
DNQ
DDO
DNQ
EDM
DNQ
GDC
DNQ
DDC
DNQ
IDO
DNQ
EDT
2R
2022 IDO
DNP
GDC
1R
GDG
DNQ
ADO
DNQ
EDO
DNP
CDO
DNQ
EDG
DNQ
DDC
DNQ
EDM
DNQ
HDT
DNQ
GDO
DNQ
BDO
DNQ
GDT
1R
2023 BSD
DNQ
EDO
1R
IDO
DNQ
GDG
DNQ
ADO
DNQ
DDC
1R
BDO
DNQ
CDO
DNQ
EDG
1R
EDM
2R
GDO
DNQ
HDT
DNQ
GDC
DNQ
2024 BDO
DNQ
GDG
DNQ
IDO
DNQ
EDG
DNQ
ADO
DNQ
BSD
DNQ
DDC
DNQ
EDO
1R
GDC
DNQ
FDT
1R
HDT
DNQ
SDT
DNQ
CDO
1R
2025 BDO
DNQ
EDT
1R
Did not qualify
Performance Table Legend
WWon the tournamentFFinalistSFSemifinalistQFQuarterfinalist#R
RR
L#
Lost in # round
Round-robin
Last # stage
DQDisqualified
DNQDid not qualifyDNPDid not participateWDWithdrewNHTournament not heldNYFNot yet founded

References

  1. "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. 30 July 2025. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  2. "Kantele Wins World Championship Place". Archived from the original on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
  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.