Marko Kantele

Marko Kantele
Marko Kantele
Personal information
Born	24 August 1968 (age 56); Mäntyharju, Finland
Home town	Vääksy, Finland
Darts information
Playing darts since	1989
Darts	18g 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	154 (24 November 2024)
WDF major events – best performances
World Ch'ship	Last 16: 2005
World Masters	Last 16: 1997, 2004
World Trophy	Last 32: 2004, 2005
Int. Darts League	Last 32: 2005
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'ship	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 Finland	2015
SDC Sweden	2014
PDCNB Denmark	2023
PDCNB Finland	2017, 2018, 2023
PDCNB Iceland	2019, 2021, 2023
PDCNB Latvia	2022, 2024
PDCNB Norway	2017
PDCNB Sweden	2018, 2023
Medal record
Men's Darts
Representing Finland
WDF World Cup
WDF Europe Cup

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

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

2005: Second round (lost to Simon Whitlock 1–3)
2025:

PDC

2009: First round (lost to Ronnie Baxter 1–3)
2018: First round (lost to John Henderson 0–3)
2020: First round (lost to William O'Connor 0–3)
2021: First round (lost to John Henderson 2–3)
2024: First round (lost to Radek Szagański 2–3)

Performance timeline

PDC

Tournament	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
PDC World Championship	1R	Did not qualify								1R	DNQ	1R	1R	DNQ		1R
UK Open	Did not qualify										2R	2R	DNQ
Non-major televised events
PDC World Cup of Darts	NH	1R	NH	1R	Did not qualify		1R	1R	1R	2R	1R	1R	1R	1R	RR	RR
Career statistics
Year-end ranking	90	151	156	155	-	-	-	-	116	112	103	84	-	178	129

BDO

Tournament	1997	1998–2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008–2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
BDO World Championship	Did not play						2R	Did not play				Did not qualify
International Darts League	Not held			Did not play			RR	Did not play		Not held
World Darts Trophy	Not held			Did not play		1R	1R	Did not play		Not held
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

PDC European Tour

Season	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
2013	UKM DNQ	EDT DNP	EDO DNP	ADO DNP	GDT DNP	GDC DNP	GDM DNP	DDM DNP
2014	GDC DNP	DDM DNP	GDM DNP	ADO 1R	GDT DNP	EDO DNP	EDG DNP	EDT DNP
2015	Did not play
2016	DDM DNQ	GDM DNQ	GDT DNQ	EDM DNQ	ADO DNQ	EDO DNQ	IDO DNP	EDT DNP	EDG DNP	GDC 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
2019	EDO DNQ	GDC DNQ	GDG DNQ	GDO DNQ	ADO DNQ	EDG DNQ	DDM DNQ	DDO DNQ	CDO DNQ	ADC DNQ	EDM DNQ	IDO DNQ	GDT DNQ
2020	BDC DNP	GDC DNQ	EDG DNQ	IDO DNQ
2021	HDT DNQ	GDT DNQ
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

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

^ "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. 24 November 2024. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
^ "Kantele Wins World Championship Place". Archived from the original on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
^ "Cash Converters World Cup RD1". PDC. 3 February 2012. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
^ "2012 SDC Finland Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
^ "Marko Kantele 2012". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 12 February 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
^ "SDC Season Ends On High". PDC. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
^ "PDC Qualifying School Day Four". PDC. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
^ "2013 Sawo Open Player Prize Money". Darts Database. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
^ "2014 SDC Sweden Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
^ "2014 Nordic Cup Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
^ "bwin World Cup of Darts Day Two". PDC. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
^ "2015 SDC Finland Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
^ "Betway World Cup of Darts Day Two". PDC. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
^ "Betway World Cup of Darts Day One". PDC. Archived from the original on 12 June 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2017.

External links

Marko Kantele player profile at Darts Orakel

[PDC_Rankings-1] "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. 24 November 2024. Retrieved 24 November 2024.

[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.

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