Robert Cross (born 21 September 1990) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked No. 4 in the world. Nicknamed "Voltage", he became the 2018 PDC World Darts Champion following his victory over Phil Taylor. Cross won the World Championship on his debut, having turned professional just 11 months prior to the event.
| Rob Cross | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Cross in 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Robert Cross | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | "Voltage" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 21 September 1990 Pembury, Kent, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Hastings, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Darts information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing darts since | 2001 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Darts | 21g Target Rob Cross | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Laterality | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Walk-on music | "I Don't Wanna Wait" by David Guetta and OneRepublic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Organisation (see split in darts) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BDO | 2015–2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PDC | 2016– (Tour Card: 2017–) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WDF | 2015–2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current world ranking | 4  (27 October 2024)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WDF major events – best performances | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Masters | Last 48: 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PDC premier events – best performances | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Ch'ship | Winner (1): 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Matchplay | Winner (1): 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Grand Prix | Quarter-final: 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UK Open | Runner-up: 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam | Runner-up: 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| European Ch'ship | Winner (2): 2019, 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Premier League | Runner-up: 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PC Finals | Runner-up: 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Masters | Runner-up: 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Champions League | Group stage: 2018, 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Series Finals | Runner-up: 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other tournament wins | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
European Tour Events
Players Championships
World Series of Darts
Challenge tour
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| Other achievements | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 Finishes first on PDC Challenge Tour Order of Merit
2017 Breaks into the top 32 on the PDC order of merit for the first time (debut year on circuit) 2018 Breaks into the top 4 in the PDC order of merit for the first time 2018 Becomes the first player to win the PDC world championship at first attempt (barring players who have played in the BDO world championship) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cross also won the World Matchplay in 2019 and the European Championship in 2019 and 2021. He is the current US Darts Masters champion.
BDO career
edit2015
editIn October 2015, Cross attempted to qualify for the 2016 BDO World Darts Championship, where he was knocked out in the last 64 by Tony Martin.[2] He also competed in the 2015 World Masters, losing to Darius Labanauskas in the last 48.[3]
PDC career
edit2016
editCross competed in the 2016 UK Open as an amateur Rileys qualifier; making it to the last 32 before falling to world number one Michael van Gerwen, who achieved a nine-dart finish in the process.[4][5] 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.[6][7]
2017
editAt the 2017 UK Open, Cross reached the fifth round before being knocked out by the eventual winner Peter Wright.[8] The following week, he won his first PDC title by defeating Mervyn King 6–5 in the final of the third Players Championship.[9] 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.[10] 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.[11][12] He reached his first premier event final in October at the 2017 European Championship, again losing to van Gerwen.[13]
2018
editCross made his World Championship debut in 2018 as the 20th seed, reaching the final against Phil Taylor following wins over Seigo Asada, 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,[14] 7–2 in sets.[15] He is the only player to have survived match darts in two rounds and then go on to win the World title.[16] 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.[17]
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 Michael Van Gerwen 10–6 in the final. He had made two previous World Series finals that year: Las Vegas and Shanghai.
2019
editIn defence of his world title at the 2019 World Championship, Cross lost 4–2 in the fourth round to Luke Humphries.
Cross made his 3rd major final and 6th televised final at the 2019 UK Open in Minehead. Cross was the 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. After finishing 2nd in the league format, Cross went to the O2 in London for the Play-Offs. He took on James Wade 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 the 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
editCross 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 James Wade en route to the final, before eventually succumbing to Gerwyn Price.
2021
editCross suffered another early exit at the 2021 World Championship, losing to Dirk van Duijvenbode 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
editAt the 2022 World Championship, Cross started his campaign with a 3–1 win against Raymond van Barneveld. 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.
2023
editAt the 2023 World Championship Cross reached the fourth round, losing to Chris Dobey 4–2.
At the Grand Slam, Cross was the runner-up, losing the final to Luke Humphries 16–8.
2024
editAt the 2024 World Championship Cross whitewashed Thibault Tricole in his second round match 3–0, won against Jeffrey de Graaf 4–2 in the third round, whitewashed Jonny Clayton 4–0 in the fourth round and came back from 4 sets down to defeat Chris Dobey 5–4 to reach the semi-finals.[18] He lost his semi-final to Luke Littler 6–2.[19]
Personal life
editCross 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.[20]
World Championship results
editPDC
edit- 2018: Winner (beat Phil Taylor 7–2)
- 2019: Fourth round (lost to Luke Humphries 2–4)
- 2020: Second round (lost to Kim Huybrechts 0–3)
- 2021: Second round (lost to Dirk van Duijvenbode 2–3)
- 2022: Fourth round (lost to Gary Anderson 3–4)
- 2023: Fourth round (lost to Chris Dobey 2–4)
- 2024: Semi-finals (lost to Luke Littler 2–6)
Performance timeline
edit| Tournament | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranked televised events | ||||||||||||||||
| PDC World Championship | DNP | W | 4R | 2R | 2R | 4R | 4R | SF | ||||||||
| UK Open | 4R | 5R | QF | F | QF | 5R | 4R | QF | QF | |||||||
| World Matchplay | DNP | 2R | 2R | W | 1R | 2R | 2R | 1R | QF | |||||||
| World Grand Prix | DNP | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | QF | |||||||
| European Championship | DNP | F | QF | W | 1R | W | 1R | 2R | 1R | |||||||
| Grand Slam of Darts | DNP | QF | 2R | 2R | 2R | QF | 2R | F | ||||||||
| Players Championship Finals | DNP | SF | 1R | 3R | 2R | 3R | F | 2R | ||||||||
| Non-ranked televised events | ||||||||||||||||
| Premier League Darts | DNP | SF | F | 9th | 9th | DNP | 6th | |||||||||
| The Masters | DNP | QF | 1R | 1R | 2R | 2R | F | 2R | ||||||||
| Champions League of Darts | DNP | DNQ | RR | RR | NH | |||||||||||
| PDC World Cup of Darts | DNQ | QF | 2R | F | DNQ | QF | DNQ | |||||||||
| World Series of Darts Finals | DNQ | QF | 2R | 2R | F | DNP | QF | QF | ||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||
| Year-end ranking | 173 | 20 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 6 | 6 | ||||||||
PDC European Tour
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | GDC DNQ |
GDM DNQ |
GDO QF |
EDG QF |
GDT QF |
EDM DNQ |
ADO 2R |
EDO QF |
DDM 3R |
GDG F |
IDO 2R |
EDT F | |
| 2018 | EDO 3R |
GDG QF |
GDO SF |
ADO QF |
EDG 3R |
DDM WD |
GDT QF |
DDO 3R |
EDM 2R |
GDC QF |
DDC DNP |
IDO DNP |
EDT QF |
| 2019 | EDO F |
GDC 3R |
GDG SF |
GDO SF |
ADO 3R |
EDG 2R |
DDM WD |
DDO 2R |
CDO DNP |
ADC DNP |
EDM QF |
IDO F |
GDT 3R |
| 2020 | BDC 3R |
GDC 3R |
EDG QF |
IDO 2R | |||||||||
| 2021 | HDT 3R |
GDT 2R | |||||||||||
| 2022 | IDO 1R |
GDC F |
GDG 3R |
ADO QF |
EDO 2R |
CDO F |
EDG F |
DDC 2R |
EDM QF |
HDT 2R |
GDO 3R |
BDO 3R |
GDT SF |
| 2023 | BSD 2R |
EDO SF |
IDO QF |
GDG 2R |
ADO 3R |
DDC 2R |
BDO 3R |
CDO SF |
EDG W |
EDM 3R |
GDO 2R |
HDT 2R |
GDC QF |
| 2024 | BDO F |
GDG 3R |
IDO 3R |
EDG SF |
ADO 2R |
BSD W |
DDC DNP |
EDO 2R |
GDC DNP |
FDT DNP |
HDT 3R |
SDT 3R |
CDO WD |
PDC Players Championships
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | BAR 1R |
BAR 3R |
BAR W |
BAR 3R |
MIL 4R |
MIL 3R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 3R |
WIG 3R |
WIG 3R |
MIL SF |
MIL W |
WIG SF |
WIG SF |
BAR 3R |
BAR 4R |
BAR 2R |
BAR 2R |
DUB W |
DUB 4R |
BAR W |
BAR 3R | ||||||||
| 2023 | BAR 3R |
BAR 3R |
BAR 3R |
BAR 3R |
BAR 1R |
BAR 2R |
HIL 1R |
HIL 1R |
WIG 1R |
WIG 2R |
LEI W |
LEI 4R |
HIL 1R |
HIL 2R |
LEI 3R |
LEI 2R |
HIL 3R |
HIL QF |
BAR 3R |
BAR QF |
BAR 2R |
BAR DNP |
BAR DNP |
BAR DNP |
BAR QF |
BAR 3R |
BAR 3R |
BAR 2R |
BAR SF |
BAR 4R |
| 2024 | WIG 2R |
WIG 2R |
LEI 1R |
LEI 1R |
HIL DNP |
HIL DNP |
LEI 2R |
LEI 4R |
HIL DNP |
HIL DNP |
HIL DNP |
HIL DNP |
MIL DNP |
MIL DNP |
MIL 2R |
MIL 1R |
MIL 2R |
MIL DNP |
MIL DNP |
WIG 4R |
WIG 1R |
MIL 4R |
MIL 4R |
WIG 4R |
WIG 2R |
WIG 3R |
WIG 4R |
WIG 2R |
LEI |
LEI |
| Performance Table Legend | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | Won the tournament | F | Finalist | SF | Semifinalist | QF | Quarterfinalist | #R RR Prel. |
Lost in # round Round-robin Preliminary round |
DQ | Disqualified |
| DNQ | Did not qualify | DNP | Did not participate | WD | Withdrew | NH | Tournament not held | NYF | Not yet founded | ||
Career finals
editPDC major finals: 11 (4 titles, 7 runners-up)
edit| Legend |
|---|
| World Championship (1–0) |
| World Matchplay (1–0) |
| Grand Slam (0–1) |
| Premier League (0–1) |
| UK Open (0–1) |
| The Masters (0–1) |
| European Championship (2–1) |
| Players Championship Finals (0–1) |
| World Series of Darts Finals (0–1) |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score[N 1] | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | 2017 | European Championship |  Michael van Gerwen
|
7–11 (l) | [13] |
| Winner | 1. | 2018 | World Darts Championship |  Phil Taylor
|
7–2 (s) | [21] |
| Runner-up | 2. | 2019 | UK Open | Nathan Aspinall
|
5–11 (l) | [22] |
| Runner-up | 3. | 2019 | Premier League | Michael van Gerwen
|
5–11 (l) | [23] |
| Winner | 2. | 2019 | World Matchplay | Michael Smith
|
18–13 (l) | [24] |
| Winner | 3. | 2019 | European Championship |  Gerwyn Price
|
11–6 (l) | [25] |
| Runner-up | 4. | 2020 | World Series of Darts Finals | Gerwyn Price
|
9–11 (l) | [26] |
| Winner | 4. | 2021 | European Championship | Michael van Gerwen
|
11–8 (l) | [27] |
| Runner-up | 5. | 2022 | Players Championship Finals | Michael van Gerwen
|
6–11 (l) | [28] |
| Runner-up | 6. | 2023 | The Masters | Chris Dobey
|
7–11 (l) | [29] |
| Runner-up | 7. | 2023 | Grand Slam of Darts | Luke Humphries
|
8–16 (l) |
PDC World Series finals: 9 (4 titles, 5 runners-up)
edit| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score[N 1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | 2018 | US Darts Masters |  Gary Anderson
|
4–8 (l) |
| Runner-up | 2. | 2018 | Shanghai Darts Masters | Michael Smith
|
2–8 (l) |
| Winner | 1. | 2018 | Brisbane Darts Masters | Michael van Gerwen
|
11–6 (l) |
| Runner-up | 3. | 2019 | Brisbane Darts Masters |  Damon Heta
|
7–8 (l) |
| Winner | 2. | 2023 | New Zealand Darts Masters | Nathan Aspinall
|
8–7 (l) |
| Winner | 3. | 2023 | New South Wales Darts Masters | Damon Heta
|
8–1 (l) |
| Winner | 4. | 2024 | US Darts Masters | Gerwyn Price
|
8–7 (l) |
| Runner-up | 4. | 2024 | Nordic Darts Masters | Gerwyn Price
|
5–8 (l) |
| Runner-up | 5. | 2024 | Poland Darts Masters | Luke Littler
|
3–8 (l) |
PDC team finals: 1 (1 runner-up)
edit| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Team | Teammate | Opponents in the final | Score[N 1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | 2020 | World Cup of Darts | England
|
Michael Smith | Wales – Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton
|
0–3 (m) |
References
edit- ^ "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. 27 October 2024. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
- ^ "2015 BDO World Championship Qualifiers Results". DartsDatabase.
- ^ "2015 World Masters Results". DartsDatabase.
- ^ "UK Open amateurs Rob Cross and Barry Lynn make impression in Minehead". Sky Sports News.
- ^ "2016 Coral UK Open Fourth round". PDC. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
- ^ "Cross and Searle Secure Tour Cards". PDC. 13 September 2016.
- ^ Kiernan, Matthew. "The 2016 UK Open Rileys Qualifiers – What Happened Next?". Rileys Sports Bars.
- ^ "2016 Coral UK Open Day Two". PDC. Archived from the original on 4 March 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
- ^ "Players Championship Three Latest". PDC. Archived from the original on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
- ^ "Cross Edges White For Second Title". PDC. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
- ^ "Imperious Van Gerwen's German Glory". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
- ^ "Van Gerwen Seals 20th Euro Tour Title". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
- ^ a b Allen, Dave. "Four-Some Van Gerwen's European Glory". PDC. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
- ^ PA Sport (27 January 2017). "Darts legend Phil Taylor announces 2017 will be his last on PDC circuit". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
- ^ "The trip that turned Rob Cross from pub player to world darts champion". Guardian. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
- ^ "Rob Cross beats Phil Taylor 7–2 to win PDC World Darts Championship – as it happened". Guardian. 1 January 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
- ^ "Rob Cross: 'After the world darts final it was like I'd hit rock-bottom'". Guardian. 10 December 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
- ^ Stafford, Ali (2 January 2024). "World Darts Championship: Luke Littler thrashes Brendan Dolan after Rob Cross makes history at Alexandra Palace". Sky Sports.
- ^ Smyth, Rob (2 January 2024). "Luke Littler reaches PDC world darts final; Humphries humiliates Williams – as it happened". The Guardian.
- ^ Prenderville, Paul (2 January 2018). "Rob Cross won the World Darts title but who is he and how has his spectacular year unfolded?". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
- ^ "PDC World Darts 2018: Rob Cross beats Phil Taylor 7–2 to win title". BBC Sport. 1 January 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ "Nathan Aspinall beats Rob Cross to win UK Open and first major title". Sky Sports. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
- ^ "Van Gerwen Lands Fifth Premier League Crown". PDC.tv. 23 May 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ "Betfred World Matchplay Glory For Cross". PDC.tv. 28 July 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ "Cross Leaves Europe Victorious". PDC.tv. 27 October 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ Allen, Dave. "bwin World Series of Darts Finals glory for Price". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
- ^ Phillips, Josh. "Cross denies Van Gerwen to end title drought at Cazoo European Championship". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
- ^ Gorton, Josh. "Seventh heaven for Van Gerwen with Minehead masterclass". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
- ^ Gorton, Josh. "Dobey defeats Cross to clinch first televised title at Cazoo Masters". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 29 January 2023.