Marko Kantele | |||||||
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Personal information | |||||||
Born |
Mäntyharju, Finland |
24 August 1968 ||||||
Home town |
Vääksy Finland |
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Darts information | |||||||
Playing darts since | 1989 | ||||||
Darts | 21g Magnum | ||||||
Laterality | Right-handed | ||||||
Organisation (see split in darts) | |||||||
BDO | 1996–2008 | ||||||
PDC | 2008– | ||||||
Current world ranking | 165 | ||||||
BDO majors - best performances | |||||||
World Ch'ship | Last 16: 2005 | ||||||
World Masters | Last 16: 1997, 2004 | ||||||
World Darts Trophy | Last 32: 2004, 2005 | ||||||
Int. Darts League | Last 32: 2005 | ||||||
PDC premier events - best performances | |||||||
World Ch'ship | Last 64: 2009 | ||||||
Other tournament wins | |||||||
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Marko Kantele (born 24 August 1968 in Mäntyharju) is a Finnish darts player.
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. 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.