Marko Kantele and Daniel Larsson celebrated titles as the 2023 PDC Nordic & Baltic ProTour season continued in Sweden last weekend.
The second of five weekends of action on this year’s Nordic & Baltic ProTour saw Finland’s World Cup veteran Kantele secure his second ProTour crown of 2023 with Event Three success at the Appel Hotel, Gothenburg.
Kantele stormed through to the semi-finals for the loss of just three legs, and after recovering from 5-4 down to deny Andreas Harrysson in the last four, he converted 121 and 96 finishes to wrap up a 6-4 success against his compatriot Hannu Suominen.
Swedish star Larsson then claimed the spoils in Sunday’s Event Four, demolishing Denmark’s Benjamin Reus 6-1 to secure his sixth Nordic & Baltic ProTour title.
Larsson came through a scrappy encounter against his compatriot Dennis Nilsson in the semi-finals, having posted a ton-plus average in his quarter-final rout of Kantele.
Last weekend also saw qualifiers for European Tour Events 4-6 take place in Gothenburg, with Kantele booking his place at the Dutch Darts Championship (ET6) in April.
The 54-year-old survived three match darts in his deciding-leg tussle against Oskar Lukasiak in the semi-finals, before he dispatched Latvia’s Dmitrijs Zukovs 6-2 to book his place in Leeuwarden next month.
However, Lukasiak and Zukovs will make their European Tour debuts at ET4 and ET5 respectively, after coming through qualification earlier in the weekend.
Sweden’s Lukasiak edged out Kantele in a last-leg decider to confirm his place at the German Darts Grand Prix in Munich, while Latvian star Zukovs recorded 6-4 wins over Kantele and Jani Laurila to seal his spot at next month’s Austrian Darts Open.
The Nordic & Baltic ProTour season continues from April 14-16, as ProTour Events 5-6 and Qualifiers for ET7-9 take place in Reykjavík, Iceland.
At the conclusion of ProTour Event Eight, the top two players from each competing nation will represent their country at the 2023 World Cup of Darts.
Nordic & Baltic ProTour Event Three
Marko Kantele 6-4 Hannu Suominen
Nordic & Baltic ProTour Event Four
Daniel Larsson 6-1 Benjamin Reus
German Darts Grand Prix (ET4 Qualifier)
Oskar Lukasiak 6-5 Marko Kantele
Austrian Darts Open (ET5 Qualifier)
Dmitrijs Zukovs 6-4 Jani Laurila
Dutch Darts Championship (ET6 Qualifier)
Marko Kantele 6-2 Dmitrijs Zukovs
2023 PDC Nordic & Baltic Calendar
ProTour 5-6 + ET Qualifiers 7-9
April 14-16, Bullseye, Reykjavík, Iceland
ProTour 7-8 + ET Qualifiers 10-11
June 2-4, Hotel Tallukka, Vääsky, Finland
ProTour 9-10 + ET Qualifiers 12-13
July 14-16, Bellevue Park Hotel, Riga, Latvia