Robert Cross (born 21 September 1990) is an English professional

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the bo ...

player who plays in

Professional Darts Corporation The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the Wor ...

(PDC) events. He became the 2018 PDC World Darts Champion following his victory over Phil Taylor. Cross won the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

on his debut, having turned professional just 11 months prior to the event.

BDO career

2015

In October 2015, Cross attempted to qualify for the

2016 BDO World Darts Championship The 2016 Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship was the 39th World Championship organised by the British Darts Organisation, and the 31st staging at the Lakeside Country Club at Frimley Green. The defending men's champion was Scott Mit ...

, where he was knocked out in the last 64 by Tony Martin. He also competed in the 2015 World Masters, losing to Darius Labanauskas in the last 48.

PDC career

2016

Cross competed in the

2016 UK Open The 2016 Coral UK Open was a darts tournament staged by the Professional Darts Corporation. It was the fourteenth year of the tournament where, following numerous regional qualifying heats throughout Britain, players competing in a single eliminat ...

as an amateur

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qualifier; making it to the last 32 before falling to world number one Michael van Gerwen, who achieved 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 process. Following this, he competed in the PDC Challenge Tour, winning three of the 16 events and ultimately topping the Order of Merit, consequently earning a Tour Card for the 2017 PDC Pro Tour.

2017

At the 2017 UK Open, Cross reached the fifth round before being knocked out by eventual winner Peter Wright. The following week, he won his first PDC title by defeating Mervyn King 6–5 in the final of the third Players Championship. His first year on the tour continued positively, winning the 12th event with a 6–5 victory over Ian White, who missed five darts for the title. Cross then beat Peter Wright 6–2 in the 19th Players Championship in Dublin and quickly added his 4th Players Championship (PC21) with a 6–3 win against Adrian Lewis to move into the top 32 for the first time. Cross reached the final of two events in the 2017 PDC European Tour, the German Darts Grand Prix and the European Darts Trophy, both times losing to Michael van Gerwen. He reached his first premier event final in October at the 2017 European Championship, again losing to van Gerwen.

2018

Cross made his

debut in 2018 as the 20th seed, reaching the final against Phil Taylor following wins over

Seigo Asada is a Japanese professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career BDO Asada won the Japan Open in 2012 by beating Osamu Niki in the final. He won the tournament for the second time in 2014, beating Katsu ...

, Michael Smith (in which Cross survived two match darts), John Henderson, Dimitri Van den Bergh and Michael van Gerwen (in which Cross survived six match darts). In the final he defeated Taylor, who had previously announced that he would retire after the tournament, 7–2 in sets. He is the only player to have survived match darts in two different rounds and then go on to win the World title. Winning the World Championship meant that he finished at number 3 in the PDC Order of Merit and earned automatic qualification for the

2018 Premier League Darts The 2018 Unibet Premier League Darts was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation – the fourteenth edition of the tournament. The event began on Thursday 1 February at the 3Arena in Dublin and ended with the Play-offs ...

. Cross was tipped by a few pundits to have an off year as they thought that the pressure of being world champion would get to him, despite this he made a good showing on his premier league debut making it to the semi finals. However, he only won one players championship title in comparison to 2017 where he won 4, he won players championship 13 by defeating Peter Wright in the final and he won his first World Series event which was the Brisbane Darts Masters by defeating Micheal Van Gerwen 10–6 in the final. He had made two previous World Series finals that year :

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and

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2019

In defence of his world title at the 2019 World Championship, Cross lost 4–2 in the fourth round to

Luke Humphries Luke Humphries (born 11 February 1995) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won the 2019 PDC World Youth Championship. Career Humphries won five PDC Development Tour titles in 20 ...

. Rob Cross made his 3rd major final and 6th televised final at the

2019 UK Open The 2019 Ladbrokes UK Open was a darts tournament staged by the Professional Darts Corporation. It was the seventeenth year of the tournament where players compete in a single elimination tournament to be crowned champion. The tournament was being ...

in Minehead. Cross was eventual runner-up at the tournament, as he lost heavily to Nathan Aspinall. Cross made his second televised final of the year (4th major, 7th televised) at the

2019 Premier League Darts The 2019 Unibet Premier League Darts was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation – the fifteenth edition of the tournament. The event began on Thursday 7 February at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle and ended with the ...

. After finishing 2nd in the league format, Cross went to the O2 in London for the Play-Offs. He took on

James Wade James Martin Wade (born 6 April 1983) is an English professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He became the youngest player to win a major PDC title, when he won the 2007 World Matchplay at th ...

in the semi-final and was successful in victory. He then took on World Number One, Michael van Gerwen in the final. He eventually lost the tournament by 11–6. He won the World Matchplay against Michael Smith by beating him 18–13 in legs. Cross became only the fourth player to ever win the World Championship and World Matchplay (previously achieved by Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson). On his way to the final he beat Chris Dobey, Krzysztof Ratajski, Stephen Bunting and Daryl Gurney, (from 15–9 down in the semi-finals). Cross reached his 4th World Series Final at the 2019 Brisbane Darts Masters. He lost to winner Damon Heta in a last leg decider 8–7. On 27 October 2019, Cross won his 3rd major PDC title, the European Championship, beating Gerwyn Price 11–6 in the final in Göttingen, Germany.

2020

Cross had a poor showing in the 2020 World Championship, losing to Kim Huybrechts 3–0 in the second round. At the World Series of Darts Finals he beat Michael Smith and

en route to the final, before eventually succumbing to Gerwyn Price.

2021

Cross suffered another early exit at the 2021 World Championship, losing to

Dirk van Duijvenbode Dirk van Duijvenbode (born 30 June 1992) is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is known for his energetic walk-on, combined with hardstyle music. More recently, he has become known for ...

3–2 in the second round. Cross won his 4th PDC major at the 2021 European Darts Championship beating Michael van Gerwen in the final 11–8.

2022

At the 2022 World Championship, Cross started his campaign with a 3–1 win against

Raymond van Barneveld Raymond van Barneveld (born 20 April 1967) is a Dutch professional darts player. Nicknamed Barney, although originally known as The Man, he is one of the most successful darts players in history. Van Barneveld is a five-time World Darts Cham ...

. In the next round he beat Daryl Gurney in a last set decider, before eventually succumbing 4–3 to Gary Anderson in the fourth round.

Personal life

Cross spent the majority of his early life living in Edenbridge, Kent. He was an electrician before turning professional. His nickname, "Voltage", comes from his former profession. He also goes by the name Humpty Dumpty, resembling his lack of hair and inconsistent play. His darts career started as a darts team player in the Powder Monkey, Wallsend.

World Championship results

PDC

* 2018: Winner (beat Phil Taylor 7–2) * 2019: Fourth round (lost to

2–4) * 2020: Second round (lost to Kim Huybrechts 0–3) * 2021: Second round (lost to

2–3) * 2022: Fourth round (lost to Gary Anderson 3–4) * 2023: Fourth round (lost to Chris Dobey 2–4)

Performance timeline

''PDC European Tour''

Career finals

PDC major finals: 9 (4 titles, 5 runners-up)

PDC World Series finals: 4 (1 title, 3 runners-up)

PDC team finals: 1 (1 runner-up)

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cross, Rob 1990 births Living people English darts players Professional Darts Corporation current tour card holders PDC world darts champions People from Pembury World Series of Darts winners World Matchplay (darts) champions European Championship (darts) champions PDC World Cup of Darts English team