"One of the most underrated players on tour" - German analysts impressed with Rob Cross

Rob Cross managed to win the US Darts Masters, a World Series of Darts tournament played in New York, last weekend. He defeated Gerwyn Price 8-7 in the final.

In this final game, Voltage was initially trailing 4-6, but he worked his way back to 7-7 and finally completed the comeback by also winning the deciding leg. In the podcast "Game on" Robert Marijanovic and Elmar Paulke were impressed by the Englishman's performance. In this context, "The Robstar" made a link to Premier League Darts 2024, in which Cross failed to win a weekly title. Voltage eventually finished the league stage in sixth place.

"It was not a bad Premier League season (for Cross)," Marijanovic said. "All (opponents) had to play at their top level to beat Cross. I think he put up good numbers (by which I mean averages, ed.). He fought back well."

Marijanovic then referred to the participants in Premier League Darts, in which Cross was in action with Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Nathan Aspinall and Peter Wright. "It was also a tough Premier League field," Cross said.

"He's one of the most underrated players on the tour. He's even more underrated than Ian White, I think,'" he continued. According to Marijanovic, it is an amazing statistic when you consider that Cross won the 2018 world title in an epic match against Phil Taylor, but White has never been world champion. "He (White) was underrated, but we talked about him. We spoke highly of him. It was never surprising when he advanced and all that. But Cross is world champion! That's someone you always have to talk about," Marijanovic said.

White is someone who, according to Paulke, "could not live up to his potential" and "was always better than he could show at major tournaments." Cross, on the other hand, had early success with his victories at the 2018 World Championship, the 2019 World Matchplay and twice at the European Championship (2019 and 2021). And yet, Cross is someone who is "not on the cards."

Paulke, who often comments on German television, also has an idea why Cross often stays under the radar: "He has trouble hitting the spectator. That's a bit of a problem. I don't feel how he does it. That could also be some kind of strategy," Paulke continued his thought after a brief pause. "A bit of a poker face. 'I won't let you know how I'm doing.' That's what makes it so hard for the fan. That's one of the reasons why (Cross) is so hard to get a hold of."

Finally, Paulke took one last look at the performance of the darter from Hastings, England. He made it clear that, despite everything, Cross should always be in the picture when it comes to winning titles. "He played a great world championship," Paulke began, referring to the semifinal of the 2024 World Darts Championship, in which Cross was eventually eliminated by Luke Littler.

"How long the process will take before he is back to his old top form," continued Germany's premier darts presenter. "He seems to be on the right track. But now it's already June. He has already indicated a few times that he is good, also on the European Tour,'' Paulke is referring to Cross' final win at the Baltic Sea Darts Open. At that tournament, Cross won over Luke Humphries in the final. ''This is someone who might be able to win the World Matchplay again.... I think that's what it's all about right now,'' Paulke continued. "It's taking a really long time, it's a tough event,'' Paulke concluded his thoughts on the subject.

The next World Series tournament on the schedule is the Nordic Darts Masters. This event will be played on Friday, June 7 and Saturday, June 8 in Copenhagen. Cross will be in action along with other PDC stars such as Dimitri Van den Bergh, Nathan Aspinall, Gerwyn Price, Stephen Bunting, Michael Smith and Luke Humphries.