INTERVIEW - William O'Connor hails "proudest moment" and discusses World Cup of Darts

Tuesday April 30 was a very special day for William O'Connor.

The Irish ace broke through the field to claim the . O'Connor beat the likes of Jeffrey de Zwaan and Daryl Gurney en route to the final, before seeing off Nathan Aspinall. It marked the first ever PDC Pro Tour victory by an Irish player, and it certainly meant a lot to the Limerick man. "It was definitely the proudest moment of my career," he told "A couple of days later, I had my as well. "After that, form kind of dropped, so I don't know!"

About time

It wasn't a wholly unexpected win. The 32-year-old had been in hot form, but hadn't translated it into results. He admitted that if there was a change that led to his Barnsley success, it wasn't necessarily a positive one.
"I was thinking to myself: 'I can't keep playing like this and losing'.
''The day I won the Pro Tour, I didn't think I played as well as I had been," he admitted.
"I thought I'd have to play better because of the way results were going the few weeks before."
However, O'Connor wasn't under the impression that victory was inevitable, even with strong showings under his belt.
"It was never a matter of time - just all the planets aligned and I got lucky, so I'm happy enough."

World Cup Willie

Next up for O'Connor is the World Cup of Darts in Hamburg. He represents the Republic of Ireland alongside Steve Lennon. The Irish have never reached the quarter-finals, and could face England in round two. First up for the pair is a meeting with Greece. The 2018 European Darts Matchplay runner-up is confident of a decent showing in Germany. "We'll do OK. Got to get past the first round first. Greece are a sticky enough team, they're very good. "John Michael and his partner are both very good. If we don't play our best, we're going to get beaten. "Hopefully we can play our best the whole way through the tournament. If we do, we're in with a shout," he said. The unique World Cup of Darts format has famously flummoxed some players, but O'Connor isn't concerned. "I don't mind [the doubles format]. I've played it long enough. I'm ready to play, and I don't mind whether it's doubles or singles. "I'm just happy to represent my country."

Photo: Stefan Straßenburg/PDC Europe