Darts star Cross racks up 12 wins in a week

Rob Cross is back in form on the oche / Picture: Getty

The world number five from St Leonards achieved 12 victories across the four competitions which made up Super Series 4 and consistently averaged around the 100 mark.

Two of those wins came against world number two Peter Wright and third-ranked Michael van Gerwen as Cross reached the semi-finals of Players Championship 15 last Wednesday.

Cross won the last two legs to defeat Wright 6-5 in the quarter-finals, having taken the final three legs to see off Van Gerwen 6-4 in the previous round, finishing that match with a 102.6 average.

His excellent progress was halted by a 7-2 semi-final defeat at the hands of eventual winner Jose de Sousa. The world number 10 from Portugal posted a remarkable 112.0 average in a match where Cross averaged 100.7. Earlier in that event, Cross dispatched Brendan Dolan 6-1 (averaging 98.1), Darius Labanauskas 6-4 (averaging 100.8) and Darren Webster 6-2 (averaging 98.0).

The 30-year-old continued that form with a run to the quarter-finals of Players Championship 16 on Thursday, when again he was beaten by the eventual winner. Cross averaged 103.6 in a 6-2 first-round success against Jeffrey De Zwaan, came from 5-2 down to pip Andy Hamilton 6-5 in round two and saw off Ryan Meikle 6-3 with a 103.7 average in round three.

He then defeated world number seven Michael Smith 6-4 in the last 16 with a 100.6 average before losing 6-1 to Wright despite averaging 100.8.

Cross, nicknamed Voltage, got to the last 16 of Players Championship 14 on Tuesday - and once more he was eliminated by the eventual champion. He whitewashed Boris Krcmar 6-0 in round one before recording 6-2 triumphs against Gordon Mathers 6-2 and Meikle, averaging 100.9 against the latter. Cross was then edged out 6-5 by De Sousa after losing the final two legs.

The 2018 world champion began the week with a narrow 6-5 first-round defeat at the hands of world number six Gary Anderson in Players Championship 13 on Monday.

Fellow local player Ritchie Edhouse was also in action in Milton Keynes. His best result of the week was reaching the quarter-finals of Players Championship 14 on Tuesday. Edhouse beat Scott Waites 6-3, Andrew Gilding 6-4, Martin Lukeman 6-4 and Josh Payne 6-1 before going down 6-4 against 25th-ranked Gabriel Clemens.

The next four Players Championship events, collectively making up Super Series 5, will take place at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry from July 5-8.