O'Connor says youth game in Ireland strongest it's ever been

By Keith Falkiner 

LEADING Irish PDC player Willie O'Connor has praised the standard of the youth game in Ireland, saying it is getting stronger all the time.

Limerick's finest tungsten thrower says he has been blown away by how good some of the kids here are now, backed up by the fact that the Irish Boys team are the current WDF Europe Cup champions.

O'Connor said he has witnessed first-hand just how good young Irish players are getting when he takes part in exhibitions across the country.

He told Darts In Ireland: "The standard amongst youth players is brilliant now. I have done a good few exhibitions across the country this year and I am always saying it, that almost every one you go to you get more impressed by the standard that is there.

"I was down in Cork at an exhibition recently and the talent that was coming on, some really small, young kids, but their talent was absolutely unbelievable.

"I was also in Tipperary and there were three or four young lads there who were absolutely brilliant also. I played them boys and they nearly battered me off the board."

Meanwhile, O'Connor's fellow PDC pro, Brendan Dolan, has urged young people to develop a love for the game first, before bringing it any further.

He said: "First and foremost you have to love the game and enjoy playing and practising.

"Then you can go to tournaments and get your competitive edge. Everybody likes to win, but you have to be able to accept defeats and try and learn what you did wrong.

"But just enjoying the game is a key thing for anybody at a young age as there will be plenty of time left in your life to be taking it more serious."