Out-of-sorts Cross well beaten in Cardiff

Rob Cross on stage during his 7-1 defeat to Simon Whitlock in Cardiff tonight. Picture courtesy Lawrence Lustig/PDC

The St Leonards-based player lost by seven legs to one against Australian thrower Simon Whitlock at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff tonight (Thursday).

Looking short on confidence, Cross hit just 11 percent of his darts at a double as he began his inaugural Premier League campaign with a second successive loss following last week’s 7-2 reverse against world number one Michael van Gerwen in Dublin.

The world number three missed two darts at a double in the opening leg on his own throw and went 2-0 down after eighth-ranked Whitlock hit his seventh dart at a double in the second leg.

Cross finished 72 in two darts to make it 2-1, but that proved his only success of the night. Whitlock landed 74 to win the fourth leg and after Cross missed three darts at a double in the fifth, the Aussie finished 59 to lead 4-1.

Whitlock hit double 13 for 5-1 and then landed tops to take the seventh leg after Cross missed two more darts at a double. Cross began the eighth leg with his only 180 of the match and followed it with a 121, but Whitlock produced a 106 outshot to seal victory in style.

Cross, 27, has now lost his last six matches in all competitions and will be eager to regain some form when he contests the final three Coral UK Open Qualifiers in Wigan tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday.

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