Rob Cross beat Joe Cullen 8-3 to win opening Players Championship event of the season in Wigan, where world champion Luke Littler had gone out in the third round.
The Robin Park Leisure Centre welcomed the newest additions to the professional circuit alongside established players in a 128-strong field, with a top prize of £15,000.
Littler – beaten by Michael van Gerwen on the opening night of the Premier League in Belfast – had started with a 6-4 win over Canadian veteran Jim Long and then beat Martin Lukeman 6-3, in which he averaged only 87.4.
CROSS WINS PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP 1! 🏆
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) February 10, 2025
What a game from Voltage!
Rob Cross is victorious in the first Players Championship event of the season in Wigan, as he beats Joe Cullen 8-3 to pick up his tenth Players Championship title, averaging 104.6!
📺 https://t.co/YyBPPwoMK8#PC1 pic.twitter.com/gXxYwjGQr2
Cullen, though, proved too strong for the 18-year-old in their third-round contest, landing eight maximums in a convincing 6-3 victory, taking five straight legs as Littler missed 15 doubles.
CULLEN SENDS LITTLER PACKING!
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) February 10, 2025
The World Champion is OUT!
Joe Cullen delivers a stunning performance to beat the World Champion, hitting six maximums en route to a commanding 6-3 victory over Luke Littler, securing his place in the next round.
📺 https://t.co/YyBPPwoMK8#PC1 pic.twitter.com/ed4XxLU4RY
‘The Rockstar’ then pushed onto the semi-finals, where he edged out world number one Luke Humphries 7-6 in a last-leg decider.
Cross – who was crowned world champion in 2018 – had come back from 3-0 down to reel off seven consecutive legs as he beat Andrew Gilding 7-3 with a 108.5 average to book a place in Monday’s final.
The ‘Voltage’ continued his momentum against Cullen, hitting a 129 finish on the bullseye to open up a 6-3 lead before closing out victory with a 40 per cent doubles success to pick up his 10th Players Championship title.
There had also been early exits for former world champions Gary Anderson – who was beaten 6-4 by Ricky Evans in the first round – and Peter Wright, who lost by the same scoreline to Adam Hunt.
Michael Smith, who recently revealed his problems with arthritis, went out to Belgium’s Dimitri van den Bergh, while women’s world champion Beau Greaves slipped to a 6-4 defeat against Owen Bates on her Pro Tour debut and world number five Stephen Bunting lost to Gilding.
The second of 34 Players Championship events takes place in Wigan again on Tuesday.
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