Rob Cross has snagged his first tournament victory of the new year. Voltage beat Stephen Bunting 8-5 in the final of the Dutch Darts Masters. For the latter it remains only one tournament victory this year, after he was the best at the Bahrain Darts Masters last week;
However, Cross came to Den Bosch with the necessary doubts. At the last World Darts Championship he immediately lost in his opening match 3-1 to Scott Williams. Last week at the opening tournament of the World Series of Darts 2025 he went straight out against Filipino Paolo Nebrida;
The 34-year-old may currently be the world number four, yet he himself indicated before this tournament that he is currently not in top form. The tournament victory therefore came as a surprise to Cross.
"It's amazing to come here and win - it's special for me," said Cross. "I think it's about time I won in the Netherlands and I'm very grateful - the crowd were brilliant. The determination and focus I had today dragged me through.
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Cross also had nice words to say for his opponent afterwards. "Stephen is a great man and he's a credit to the sport. He's done all the work today, got there and probably ran out of steam.
"To come here and win this one means so much. It's been a great weekend and I've really enjoyed it, and I love the World Series."
Cross thus heads to the first PDC major of the new season, the WInmau World Masters, with confidence. A week later, he will also be in action on the first day of play at the Premier League Darts.
🏆 Brisbane Darts Masters
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 25, 2025
🏆 New South Wales Darts Masters
🏆 New Zealand Darts Masters
🏆 US Darts Masters
🏆 Dutch Darts Masters
Rob Cross is at it again on the World Series stage! pic.twitter.com/oRS4gRHpBJ