At the outset of the World Darts Championship, there was plenty of Irish involvement, but the players in question have endured mixed results thus far.
Keane Barry has already sadly exited the competition after a hugely difficult second-round draw against three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen.
Tipperary's Dylan Slevin was also eliminated on Sunday night, with more Irish players entering the fray on Wednesday afternoon.
While many may have been focusing on the fortunes of Steve Lennon and William O'Connor later in the day, there was in fact some Irish interest in the first game of the day.
Finnish player Marko Kantele came up against Polish player Radek Szaganski - who is employed as a Bus Eireann driver in County Cork.
READ HERE: Keane Barry Rues Missed Opportunities Against Ruthless MVG
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Cork-based Bus Eireann driver wins at Ally Pally
Radek Szaganski progressed to the second-round of the World Darts Championship on Wednesday afternoon, after a tense 3-2 victory over Marko Kantele at Ally Pally.
The Polish player will now face the might of Raymond van Barneveld in the next round.
SZAGANSKI WINS!
Radek Szaganski beats Marko Kantele in a deciding-set thriller to reach the Second Round!
He will face Raymond van Barneveld!
📺 https://t.co/f3RU9WTIoD#WCDarts | R1 pic.twitter.com/20KbOxPjlc— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 20, 2023
One would expect that interest in Szaganski's progression through the tournament is set to grow in Ireland, given the Pole has been based in Cork for the past 17 years.
Szaganski only took up darts for the first time after arriving in Ireland and spoke in a recent interview of his experience playing for the Limerick and Cork county teams.
Impressive results in recent years have seen him climb high enough to earn a PDC Tour Card, and his victory at this year's Players Championship 27 earned him qualification for the World Darts Championship for the first time.
His first-round victory sets him up for a daunting task on Friday evening. Szaganski will come up against 2007 world champion Raymond van Barneveld, in a game he must win to maintain his tour card.
🗣️ "The win is the most important thing right now."
We caught up with Radek Szaganski after his deciding set victory over Marko Kantele... pic.twitter.com/XLbCRGbh8Q— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 20, 2023
Speaking after his victory on Wednesday afternoon, Szaganski said he was happy to have gotten off to a winning start, and that he was not allowing the pressure of his tour card hang over him ahead of such an enticing test on Friday evening:
Well...maybe. If I lose the next game, so what? I move on. If you win one, you can win it again.
I try to treat all the players [on] what they're like, not what they win. I'm looking forward [to it], so we'll see what happens. I enjoy this win now first!
Some man. We're going to hazard a guess that Szaganski is the first Bus Eireann driver ever to take a victory at Ally Pally - and Irish fans will be rooting him on to do the same again on Friday evening.
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