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Cross Wins On The World Series

Cross Wins On The World Series

Alex Moss |

A Week In Darts – Cross Comes Back To Win In New Zealand

Welcome back to A Week In Darts – Darts Corner’s round-up of the last seven days in the world of darts. It was a week which saw the true worldwide appeal of the game shine through with events taking place in England, New Zealand, Japan, Belgium and Costa Rica. Here’s our look back at a week in darts.

CROSS FIGHTS BACK TO WIN NZ DARTS MASTERS TITLE

The PDC’s annual trip Down Under for the World Series of Darts got under way at the weekend with the New Zealand Darts Masters in Hamilton.

The two-day event started on Friday with eight PDC stars facing off against eight Oceanic representatives, and two home favourites Haupai Puha and Jonny Tata pulled off the upsets with wins against Dimitri Van den Bergh and Peter Wright respectively.

On Saturday, it was 2018 PDC world champion Rob Cross who came out on top, winning two last-leg deciders on his way to claiming the title. ‘Voltage’ edged past Wright’s conqueror Tata, 6-5 in the quarter-finals, before seeing off Gerwyn Price 7-3 to reach the final.

In the decider, Cross battled back from 5-2 down to beat the newly-crowned World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall 8-7. It is a first World Series title for Cross since his victory in the Brisbane Darts Masters back in 2018.

“To win this title is absolutely amazing,” reflected Cross. “It’s all memories. When I pack up eventually, I will look back and see what I’ve won and remember the great moments and people along the way.”

The World Series continues with the New South Wales Darts Masters in Wollongong, Australia on August 11-12.

Check out our collection of darts for Australia’s number one Damon Heta.

TEEN LITTLER RETAINS SUPER SERIES CROWN

Luke Littler once again affirmed his position as one of the hottest young prospects in world darts after retaining the Modus Super Series title on Saturday night.

The 16-year-old got the better of Colin Osborne 4-2 in the final of Champions Week, bringing an end to Series 4 of the competition which started back in May.

The Super Series is open to any player without a PDC tour card and sees 12 players each week battling it out for a spot in Champions Week. After 12 weeks, the 12 weekly winners then compete in Champions Week where a £20,000 top prize is up for grabs.

Teenager Littler won Series 3 and successfully defended his title in Portsmouth on Saturday, recording wins over Osborne and Reece Robinson in the group stage, before beating Berry van Peer and Osborne in the knockout rounds.

AROUND THE BOARD

There was a host of different winners on the WDF circuit at the weekend, as ranking events took place in both Belgium and Japan.

Francois Schweyen defeated WDF men’s number one Andy Baetens 5-2 in the final of the Belgium Open, while recent Women’s World Matchplay debutant Noa-Lynn van Leuven won the women’s title. The Dutch ace came from behind to beat Rhian O’Sullivan 5-2 in the final.

In the Antwerp Open, reigning World Masters champion Wesley Plaisier took the men’s title, beating Matthew Edgar 5-2 in the decider, while Deta Hedman added to her trophy cabinet by winning the women’s event. Hedman, who has won more than 150 ranking titles in her career, edged out Monique Lessmeister 5-4 in the final.

Take a look at our collection of Matthew Edgar, Deta Hedman and Rhian O’Sullivan darts and flights.

Meanwhile, Jun Matsuda (men’s) and Mayumi Ouchi (women’s) won the Japan Open titles, and Ryuta Arihara and Yukie Sakaguchi took top honours in the men’s and women’s events in the Bud Brick Memorial.

And finally, the Championship Darts Latin America and Caribbean (CDLC) got their inaugural tour up and running in Costa Rica at the weekend.

The two tour events represented the first steps on the road for players in Central and South America and the Caribbean to qualify for the PDC World Championship in December.

Sudesh Fitzgerald

Guyana’s Norman Madhoo won the first event, beating his PDC World Cup of Darts partner Sudesh Fitzgerald 6-3 in the final. Fitzgerald then went one better in the second tournament, seeing off Alex Guiterrez 6-2 in the decider.

The CDLC will stage another double-header in Chile on October 14-15 and the player who is top of the points standings following those events will qualify for the World Championship.

Pictures: Photosport/PDC/CDLC

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