Former electrician Rob Cross offered extra enormous sparks on today in 2018 with a shocking upset towards Phil Taylor to turn into PDC world champion at Alexandra Palace.
Cross turned off ‘The Power’ for the ultimate time as he adopted up his semi-final win towards defending champion Michael van Gerwen to deny the retiring Taylor a seventeenth world title in a 7-2 victory.
Most darts followers had by no means heard of Cross 12 months beforehand as he plied his commerce as an newbie participant whereas working as an electrician in Hastings.
It was his second tilt at a darting profession, having beforehand stopped taking part in for 18 months following the beginning of the primary of his two kids.
The determination to return to the oche was an impressed one by the Pembury-born thrower, nicknamed ‘Voltage’ owing to his former profession.
He had loved a life-changing 12 months on the PDC circuit after hanging up his instruments in favour of choosing his darts again up.
After reaching the final 32 of the 2016 UK Open as an newbie, Cross had set the world alight since incomes his tour card at the beginning of 2017, surging up to quantity six in the rankings and into the World Championship ultimate at his first try.
Taylor awaited, aiming to carry the curtain down on his illustrious profession with a seventeenth world title. But he was blown away by the 27-year-old, who produced an excellent show to land the trophy and £400,000 prize.
Cross averaged a outstanding 107.67, hit 11 maximums and had a checkout share of 60 to depart Taylor shell-shocked.
The twentieth seed had already received the hearts of the Alexandra Palace crowd after rising victorious from one of many biggest matches in World Championship historical past.
Taking on world primary Van Gerwen, Cross produced a efficiency past his years to edge an 11-set thriller in sudden demise and earn a shot on the title.
Cross admitted earlier than the ultimate that he was up towards his “favourite player” in Taylor, who had received his first world title eight months earlier than Cross was even born.
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