Gurney sees off Cross in nervy Champions League of Darts thriller

Gurney went 8-1 up and seemed to be on his way to a brilliant victory but the nerves took hold allowing Cross a route back into the tie.

The Northern Irishman would have thought there would be memories of the World Matchplay when similar happened but he managed to get through it.

Gurney quickly doubled his lead in the early going against Rob Cross but was halted of sorts by 'Voltage' who hit a 130 checkout.

Both players fluffed their lines with Gurney 3-1 up; he was allowed to extend it to 4-1 with both missing multiple darts at double. The impetus was with Gurney with Cross down at 1/8 on the doubles compared to 4/11 for Gurney.

Full control was exerted by Gurney; with a 142 checkout as he extended his lead to 5-1. 'Superchin' went three away with a 7-1 lead as he hit an excellent 160 checkout to follow up that aforementioned 142 with a 105 average.

Ahead of his head shave, Gurney was looking brilliant; he looked to be cruising towards victory. He pinned double 20 to go 8-2 up at the break.

Cross though claimed a break back to capitalise on missed doubles from Gurney and put it potentially up in the air. Gurney missed the opportunity to make it 9-4 and Cross held throw to make it 8-5.

Gurney missed more darts failing to hit an 80 checkout and Cross made it five legs on the spin. A slip from Cross though allowed Gurney another chance with a big dart at double 20. Gurney recovered from the slip with a 116 finish to win the tie and add two points to his tally.

Click here for more information on the Champions League of Darts as darts debuts on TV in Leicester.

4x Group Matches
Afternoon session’s winning players face each other, and losing players face each other
Rob Cross (94.6) 6-10 (97.6) Daryl Gurney (Group B)
19:45 Peter Wright v Gerwyn Price (Group B)
20:45 Gary Anderson v James Wade (Group A)
21:45 Michael van Gerwen v Michael Smith (Group A)

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