Rob Cross was on fire.
It was brutal. It was relentless. It was ruthless, it was bloody well merciless. Rob Cross wouldn’t stop, he couldn’t stop as he led Phil Taylor a merry-dance to take his first ever world title in his first ever World Darts Championship appearance.
The script was that the 5/6 favourite Phil Taylor would bring an end to the greatest career that darts has ever seen in a fairy-tale ending. That he would lift his 17th ever World Championship.
Rob Cross took that script and he ripped it to shreds. He annihilated it with a flurry of 180s, 167 finishes, 153 finishes, you name it, this man did it.
ROB CROSS IS THE 2017/18 @WilliamHill WORLD DARTS CHAMPION!!!!!!#LoveTheDarts #WHDarts #TAYvCROSS pic.twitter.com/KhXfAAGXCk
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 1, 2018
The final scoreline was 7 sets to two in favour of the Pembury native, and that, amazingly, was a fair reflection on the game.
There was seemingly nothing the 27-year-old couldn’t do with a dart in hand on New Year’s Day. He nailed nearly every double that came his way, and he backed it up with walloping, unflinching high scores that must of been like a dart to the stomach of Phil Taylor every time he did it.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. Rob Cross was an electrician only last year. He only turned professional this year. Well the electrician turned off the ‘Power’ on Monday night.
He won the first three sets of the night. Closing out with some spectacular finishes. He was steely-eyed, so focused, so unflinching in his desire to win this bloody thing.
CROSS WITH YET ANOTHER HUGE CHECKOUT | This time it's 153 from Voltage – he now leads by THREE
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼#WHdarts #LoveTheDarts pic.twitter.com/UcRxSkCOUw
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 1, 2018
He let his darts do the talking, he let his tungsten shout, roar and arrow their way to wherever the hell he wanted on the board.
Taylor took the fourth set. Cross took the next three in succession again.
He allowed himself a brief moment to pause as Taylor made it 6-2. He was literally and so obviously only delaying the inevitable onslaught.
The onslaught came via a 140 checkout. He went out the way he had played that whole game. Explosively. Relentlessly.
ROB CROSS IS THE 2017/2018 WILLIAM HILL WORLD DARTS CHAMPION
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆#WHdarts #LoveTheDarts pic.twitter.com/0HVnWKrSyC
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 1, 2018
It was high voltage stuff. It was Rob Cross stuff.
The future of darts is here.
The crowning of a new World Champion, the farewell of a legend of the sport…#WHdarts #LoveTheDarts pic.twitter.com/O27uAWKxex
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 1, 2018
