Marko Kantele is a Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 darts

Darts

Darts is a form of throwing game where darts are thrown at a circular target fixed to a wall. Though various boards and games have been used in the past, the term "darts" usually now refers to a standardised game involving a specific board design and set of rules...

 player.

Kantele made his major debut in the 1997 Winmau World Masters

Winmau World Masters

The Winmau World Masters is one of the longest running and most prestigious professional darts tournaments, which began in 1974 - even before the current World Professional Championship...

, beating defending champion Colin Monk

Colin Monk

Colin Monk is an English darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events and formerly played in British Darts Organisation events. He is turning full time professional in January 2010....

 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

Ted Hankey

Edward "Ted" Hankey is an English darts player who is a two-time BDO World Professional Darts Champion. His nickname is The Count and his walk on music is Be On Your Way by DJ Zany. Hankey built up a large following due to his obsession with and resemblance to Dracula...

. Kantele made a third appearance at the Masters, beating Bobby George

Bobby George

Robert Francis George is an English darts player and presenter. He is widely recognised as one of the game's biggest personalities, known for his flamboyant entrances in which the "King of Darts" makes his way to the stage bedecked in jewellery, wearing a crown and cloak and holding a candelabra...

 and Remco van Eijden

Remco van Eijden

Remco van Eijden is a Dutch darts player who competes in British Darts Organisation events.van Eijden previously played in the British Darts Organisation and he played in the 2008 BDO World Darts Championship, beating fellow Dutchman Mario Robbe in the first round, only to lost in the second round...

 to reach the last 16 where he lost to Martin Atkins

Martin Atkins (darts player)

Martin Atkins is an English darts player. His nickname is "The Assassin". His most notable achievement is beating former BDO World Champion Jelle Klaasen to win the Finnish Open on 11 March 2006...

. He also played in the 2004 World Darts Trophy

World Darts Trophy

The World Darts Trophy was a darts tournament held each September at De Vechtsebanen in Utrecht, Netherlands between 2002 and 2007. The tournament has a playing format comparable with the two World Championships, the BDO World Darts Championship and the PDC World Darts Championship...

, losing in the first round to Robert Wagner

Robert Wagner (darts player)

Robert Wagner is an Austrian-born Norwegian darts player, nicknamed The Magician. He currently plays on the BDO circuit.-Darts career:...

.

Kantele qualified for the 2005 BDO World Darts Championship

2005 BDO World Darts Championship

-Women:Women's bracket:-External links:* *...

, beating Tony O'Shea

Tony O'Shea

Tony O'Shea is an English darts player who competes in British Darts Organisation events. He was born in Stockport. His squat figure has resulted in the nickname Silverback. His walk-on music is "Hey Baby" by DJ Ötzi...

 in the first round before losing in the second round to Simon Whitlock

Simon Whitlock

Simon Whitlock is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation tournaments, although he did have a spell playing in the rival organisation, the British Darts Organisation. He uses the nickname The Wizard for his matches...

. He also played in the International Darts League

International Darts League

The Topic International Darts League was a darts tournament held at the Triavium in Nijmegen, Netherlands. Raymond van Barneveld dominated the tournament, held in his home country, winning it on three of the five occasions it was held...

 the same year, winning his opening group game against Mario Robbe

Mario Robbe

Mario Robbe is a Dutch darts player currently playing in British Darts Organisation events.Robbe made his BDO World Darts Championship debut in 2007, where he lost in the first round to Ted Hankey. He returned to Lakeside in 2008, but lost again in the first round to fellow Dutchman Remco van...

 but lost to Raymond van Barneveld

Raymond van Barneveld

Raymond van Barneveld , nickname Barney is a professional darts player. He is a five time World Darts Champion, and two time UK Open Champion. From January to June 2008, he was the PDC world number one ranked player...

 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

Vincent van der Voort

Vincent van der Voort is a professional darts player.-Playing style:Vincent is well known for his spasmodic style and machine-gun speed of play which has gained him a reputation in both the BDO and the PDC for being one of the more erratic throwers in the darting world...

. Kantele reached the last 32 of the 2006 World Masters and reached the last 32, losing to Darryl Fitton

Darryl Fitton

Darryl Fitton is an English professional darts player currently playing in BDO events. He is nicknamed The Dazzler and comes to the stage dancing to the Madness song "One Step Beyond" wearing sunglasses. It is one of the most popular walk-ons with the audience...

. 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

2009 PDC World Darts Championship

The 2009 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship was the 16th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation....

 and made him Finland's first ever representative. He beat Lourence Ilagan

Lourence Ilagan

Lourence Ilagan is a Filipino darts player.Ilagan is a two-time quarter-finalist in the WDF Asia-Pacific Cup. He has also reached the final of the Philippines Open in 2006 and 2007 along with the final of the 2008 Malaysian Open...

 5-2 in legs in the preliminary round, but lost 3-1 in sets to Ronnie Baxter

Ronnie Baxter

Ronnie Baxter is an English darts player. He uses the nickname The Rocket for his matches. Baxter is known for his fast, robotic throwing action...

 in the first round. Afterwards, Kantele began playing in PDC Europe events competing for the European Order of Merit.

External links

• Profile and stats on Darts Database