Connie Finnan (born 20 May 1962) is an Irish former professional

darts Darts is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, projectiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dartboard. Point ...

player.

Career

BDO

In September 2009, Finnan qualified for the televised stages of the

World Masters The World Masters, known for sponsorship reasons as the Mita/Sky World Masters, was a snooker tournament held between 13 and 26 January 1991. Conceived by promoter Barry Hearn, the tournament had a similar format to the Grand Slam (tennis), Gran ...

. He defeated

Darryl Fitton Darryl Fitton (born 5 May 1962) is a former English professional darts player. He was nicknamed The Dazzler and worked as an undertaker before embarking on his darts career. Fitton won the 2009 Finder Masters and the 2016 BDO World Trophy. ...

3–1 in the last 16 before losing 3–0 to

Robbie Green Robbie Green (born 19 July 1974) is a former English professional darts player. His nickname was Kong. PDC career Green made his televised debut at the 2004 UK Open, reaching the last 64 stage. The same year he qualified for the World Matchpl ...

in the quarter-finals. Later that month, he reached the semi-finals of the

2009 WDF World Cup The 2009 WDF World Cup was the 17th edition of the WDF World Cup darts tournament, organised by the World Darts Federation. It was held in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA from September 23 to 27. Men's singles Women's singles Other Winners Fin ...

men's singles, but was beaten 6–4 by

Joey ten Berge Joey ten Berge (born 18 October 1985) is a Dutch former darts player. Career BDO Ten Berge won the 2001 WDF Europe Youth Cup beating Sweden's Markus Korhonen in the final. Six years later, he captured his first professional title by capturing ...

PDC

Finnan qualified for the 2012 PDC World Championship after winning the final of the Tom Kirby Memorial Irish Matchplay against

Shane O'Connor Shane O'Connor may refer to: * Shane O'Connor (rugby union) (born 1983), Irish rugby union player * Shane O'Connor (footballer) (born 1990), Irish footballer * Shane O'Connor (darts player) (born 1985), Irish professional darts player * Shane O ...

. He lost 4–3 in the preliminary round to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

's Warren French, having led 3–1. In January 2012, Finnan won a

PDC Pro Tour The PDC Pro Tour is a series of non-televised darts tournaments organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). They comprise Professional Dart Players Association (PDPA) Players Championships and European Tour events. Only four players ...

card for 2012 and 2013 at the PDC's Qualifying School in

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

. In November, he threw a

nine-dart finish A nine-dart finish, also known as a nine-darter, is a perfect leg or single game in the sport of darts. The object of the game is to score a set number of points, most commonly 501; in order to win, a player must reach the target total exactly a ...

in the fourth round of the 20th Players Championship during a 6–3 win over world number six

Wes Newton Wesley Newton (born 27 August 1977) is an English professional darts player. Darts career Newton's first PDC major was the 2003 UK Open where he lost 8–6 to Mark Thomson in the last 32. He was beaten in the semi-finals of the Eastbourne Op ...

which earned him £4,800. Finnan was then defeated 1–6 in the quarter-finals to

Michael van Gerwen Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player, who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where is currently ranked PDC Order of Merit, world number three; he was ranked world number one from 20 ...

. This was Finnan's best result of 2012, and he went into 2013 ranked world number 78. Finnan played in his first

World Cup of Darts For the current edition see 2025 PDC World Cup of Darts The PDC World Cup of Darts is a team darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation, and was one of the three new tournaments introduced into the PDC calendar in 2010. It is ...

in February 2013 with William O'Connor. The pair beat Denmark 5–0 in their first match and despite losing to South Africa 4–5 they finished top of Group B on leg difference to reach the last 16. They faced Japan and were defeated 3–5. Finnan was beaten 4–5 by

Adrian Gray Adrian Gray (born 28 February 1981) is an English darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career Gray made his televised debut at the 2003 UK Open. He only began playing darts at the age of 18, and within thr ...

in the second round of the

UK Open The Ladbrokes UK Open is a ranking major darts tournament held annually at the Butlins Minehead Resort by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in England. The event is often referred to as the "FA Cup of darts" as it has an unseeded open dr ...

. Finnan qualified for the World Grand Prix for the first time and pulled off the result of his career in the first round as he defeated

Terry Jenkins Terry Jenkins (born 26 September 1963) is an English former professional darts player who was nicknamed The Bull, having previously used the name "Tucker" for his matches. He reached a peak ranking of world number three in the darts world ranki ...

by two sets to none. He led two-time winner of the event

James Wade James Martin Wade (born 6 April 1983) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number nine; he reached a peak ranking of world number two in 2010. ...

1–0 and 2–1 in the next round, but the game went into a deciding set. At 2–1 down in the set Finnan missed a single 10 which would have left him 32 with his last dart and saw Wade step in to finish 91 to win. If Finnan had won the leg he would have been throwing for the match in the next. In the same week he advanced to the final of the Irish Matchplay final, Ireland's biggest domestic darts tournament, and lost 6–4 to Colin McGarry. A win would have seen him clinch a place for the 2014 World Championship. Finnan's status on the tour he earned two years ago expired after the 2014 World Championship, but he was ranked world number 60 after the tournament inside the top 64 who retain their places. In May he secured wins over top ten players

Dave Chisnall David Chisnall (born 12 September 1980) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number twelve; he reached a peak ranking of world number five in ...

and

Simon Whitlock Simon Whitlock (born 3 March 1969) is an Australian professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, having previously competed in British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. Nicknamed "The Wizard", he won th ...

at the ninth Players Championship to reach the quarter-finals of a PDC event for the second time in his career, where he lost 6–3 to

Justin Pipe Justin Pipe (born 9 November 1971) is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won six PDC titles. Playing career Pipe was a Boxing, boxer in his youth, and, as a staunch anti- ...

. Finnan and

O'Connor O'Connor or O'Conor may refer to: People * O'Connor or O'Conor, an Irish clan * O'Connor Sligo, a royal dynasty ruling the northern part of the Kingdom of Connacht * O'Connor (surname), including a list of people with the surname Places * Burdett ...

lost five successive legs in the first round of the

to be beaten 5–3 by Singapore. Finnan reached the last 32 of three more events during the rest of the season. He maintained his tour status by starting 2015 ranked world number 63. Finnan and O'Connor's

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

second round match with Hong Kong went to a doubles match which they lost 4–3. Finnan did not play the full schedule of events in 2015 and lost the £7,000 from the 2013 World Grand Prix on his Order of Merit ranking which meant he needed to enter Q School in January 2016 to remain on tour, which he did not do. Finnan quit the PDC in 2015.

Personal life

Finnan is married and has two daughters. He is not a full-time darts player and works in a factory making plastic bag closures in Shannon.

World Championship results

PDC

* 2012: Preliminary round (lost to Warren French 3–4) (legs)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Finnan, Connie 1962 births Living people British Darts Organisation players Irish darts players Professional Darts Corporation former tour card holders PDC World Cup of Darts Irish team Sportspeople from County Limerick