Rob Cross claimed his second PDC title of the year at Players Championship 27 in Barnsley on Saturday, defeating Peter Wright 8-4 in the final.
Cross produced checkouts of 164, 160 and 143 in the final to overcome World Champion Wright to make it two triumphs in four Players Championship events, following up August’s Players Championship 24 win.
A gripping final saw Wright take an early 3-2 lead, but an exhibition of finishing from Cross saw him pin 50% of his attempts at the outer ring to take the game away from the world number one.
“It’s funny because I was saying to my manager recently that I felt the only part of my game that’s been missing of late has been my big finishing,” said Cross.
“In the semi-finals I had to be at my best to get past Callan Rydz; he’s got a lot of bottle.
“I’m enjoying spending time with my family, which is important. When the balance is right I can be dangerous.
“Going forward, I think there’s no limit to where I can go.”
Cross’ day began with victory over Jason Lowe, before back-to-back ton-plus averages came in wins over Danny Baggish and Brendan Dolan.
The former World Champion saw off George Killington to reach the quarter-finals, where he defeated Stephen Bunting 6-2.
His finest performance of the day came in his 7-5 semi-final victory over Callan Rydz, where a 110.9 average saw him through to the final.
Meanwhile, Wright continued his strong form with a trio of ton-plus averages in reaching his first Players Championship final since April.
Wright’s semi-final opponent Ryan Meikle enjoyed a first ever run to the last four of a PDC ranking event.
This week’s ProTour action concludes with Players Championship 28 on Sunday in Barnsley.
Live action will be broadcast across two streams on PDCTV.
View all results from Players Championship 27 in the Match Centre.
View stats from all matches in DartConnect.
2022 Players Championship 27
Saturday October 22, Barnsley Metrodome
Last 16
Callan Rydz 6-2 Richie Burnett
Alan Soutar 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Rob Cross 6-4 George Killington
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Joe Murnan
Jose de Sousa 6-3 Danny van Trijp
Peter Wright 6-5 Josh Rock
Gary Anderson 6-2 Chris Dobey
Ryan Meikle 6-3 Martin Lukeman
Quarter-Finals
Callan Rydz 6-1 Alan Soutar
Rob Cross 6-2 Stephen Bunting
Peter Wright 6-3 Jose de Sousa
Ryan Meikle 6-4 Gary Anderson
Semi-Finals
Rob Cross 7-5 Callan Rydz
Peter Wright 7-2 Ryan Meikle
Final
Rob Cross 8-4 Peter Wright
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC
