Voltage Victorious at Last:
Rob Cross finally claimed a win on the PDC Circuit in 2022 after beating Luke Humphries 8-3 in finding victory at Players Championship 24, gaining revenge having lost two Finals already on the Euro Tour to his opponent in the Final.
The former World Champion averaged 98.87 and included a checkout of 123, with a double success rate of 47%. It was the Red Dragon man who had the highest finish of the Final having found a 124 finish to win one of his three legs in Barnsley.
The Hastings thrower included victories over Karol Sedlacek in the First Round before avenging his defeat to Jose de Sousa in the recent World Matchplay, beating the Portuguese 6-4 despite a late resurgence.
The most impressive performance of the day came in his Semi Final over Chris Dobey, winning 7-4 with a staggering average of 109.49 across the eleven legs played. To think that wasn’t even the highest average in the Semi Finals showing just how high the quality was across the whole of Players Championship 24.
Luke Humphries despite defeat in the Final included a fantastic victory over Martin Schindler in the Final 4, including six maximums and a 147-finish using the bull before hitting tops to complete what was the highest checkout of the match.
The 27-year-old won 7-3 against the Wall and averaged 111.14, bouncing back over these last few days after what was an underwhelming campaign in Blackpool given his achievements so far in 2022. The Englishman was sent packing on Day 2 of the Matchplay against Nathan Aspinall, losing 10-5 to the former UK Open champion.
The Newbury born darting star averaged over 100 in four matches on Friday, beating two-time World Series champion Dimitri van den Bergh 6-3 in the Quarter Finals after averaging 108.65 in a whitewash victory over Luc Peters in the Second Round.
Simon Whitlock despite missing out on the Winter Gardens enjoyed a good run to the Last 16 in Barnsley, losing out to Schindler who averaged just shy of a ton in a 6-2 victory. The Wizard beat 9 dart hero Jack Main 6-2 in the Third Round with the young Englishman including two perfect legs in two days of action.
The Winmau man averaged 103.41 over the course of the eight legs after finding his first ton plus score of the day, in beating Adam Hunt 6-3 in the First Round. (102.90)
Steve Beaton was involved in a high quality Second Round match with Martin Lukeman as both players averaged in three figures over the course of the tungsten tussle. The Bronzed Adonis went on to reach the Third Round with a 6-3 victory and an impressive score of 110.41, going on to lose 6-1 against Martin Schindler.
That concludes the three-day triple header of Players Championship events in Barnsley, with the arrows heading down under next week for the Palmer Bet Queensland Darts Masters which will be live on ITV Sport next Saturday.
Players Championship 24 Results
Last 16:
Luke Humphries 6-3 Matt Campbell
Dimitri van den Bergh 6-2 Ross Smith
Madars Razma 6-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Martin Schindler 6-2 Simon Whitlock
Chris Dobey 6-3 Krzysztof Kciuk
Mensur Suljovic 6-4 Dave Chisnall
Rob Cross 6-1 Micky Mansell
Jose de Sousa 6-1 Vincent van der Voort
Quarter Finals:
Luke Humphries 6-3 Dimitri van den Bergh
Martin Schindler 6-5 Madars Razma
Chris Dobey 6-3 Mensur Suljovic
Rob Cross 6-4 Jose de Sousa
Semi Finals:
Luke Humphries 7-3 Martin Schindler
Rob Cross 7-3 Chris Dobey
Final:
Rob Cross 8-3 Luke Humphries
—-ENDS—–
