Rampant Rob Cross downs Joe Cullen to seal opening Players Championship of 2025, first since 2023
PDC
It is a tenth Players Championship title of Rob Cross' career who took down Joe Cullen in an 8-3 win to open the new ProTour season with Event One in Wigan, the first of two this week.
Cross averaged 104 with a high checkout of 129, five 180's and 40% on the doubles in victory in what is his first floor title since 2023 in Leicester as he denies Cullen who had a superb day downing both Luke Humphries and Luke Littler today.
While today Cross saw off Robert Owen (6-2), Owen Bates (6-2), James Hurrell (6-4), Carl Sneyd (6-3), Jermaine Wattimena (6-5) and Andrew Gilding (7-3). After a poor Players Championship series last year, he has a title in the very first.
Cross opened up with a superb start hitting double 16 for a 41 checkout for the lead. Cullen had two darts to hit back but spurned them and Cross took aim at 81 pinning double 12 for a 15-darter for 2-0.
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Cross set up his favourite double 18 from 161 and held for a 3-0 lead. Cullen hit double 16 for 3-1 down. Cross missed 72 for 4-1 but Cullen missed 120 for the break and 'Voltage' returned only to miss three more.
Both continued to miss and Cullen hit double two to go 3-2 down and was throwing for parity. Cross hit double 18 to make it 4-2 and break straight back. He consolidated finally to go three away.
Cullen superbly held with a 62 checkout on double 16 in what was a rot stopper as Cross waited to go 6-2 up. A 129 checkout was a hammer blow for Cross as 'Voltage' pinned the bull for 6-3. A 54 checkout saw Cross break to go one away and he was throwing for the match. It seemed inevitable as he took aim at his favourite double 18. He switched to double nine and sealed it.
Players Championship 1 Results
Final
Rob Cross (104.60) 8 | 3 (94.26) Joe Cullen
Semi-Finals
Rob Cross (108.55) 7 | 3 (99.20) Andrew Gilding
Joe Cullen (105.05) 7 | 6 (102.05) Luke Humphries
Quarter-Finals
Rob Cross (89.51) 6 | 5 (93.75) Jermaine Wattimena
Andrew Gilding (98.11) 6 | 3 (93.62) Luke Woodhouse
Joe Cullen (98.02) 6 | 4 (99.93) Richard Veenstra
Luke Humphries (95.64) 6 | 1 (88.78) Darryl Pilgrim
Last 16
Rob Cross (95.10) 6 | 3 (87.81) Carl Sneyd
Jermaine Wattimena (103.26) 6 | 1 (99.38) Ross Smith
Andrew Gilding (102.13) 6 | 4 (96.67) Jonny Clayton
Luke Woodhouse (86.61) 6 | 4 (86.14) Wessel Nijman
Joe Cullen (87.66) 6 | 5 (87.99) Gian van Veen
Richard Veenstra (91.55) 6 | 2 (96.58) Danny Noppert
Luke Humphries (88.66) 6 | 4 (86.38) Mike De Decker
Darryl Pilgrim (91.49) 6 | 5 (99.96) Damon Heta
Last 32
Carl Sneyd (97.97) 6 | 4 (96.39) Niels Zonneveld
Rob Cross (104.53) 6 | 4 (97.93) James Hurrell
Jermaine Wattimena (102.59) 6 | 2 (100.82) Callan Rydz
Ross Smith (96.31) 6 | 1 (89.03) James Wade
Andrew Gilding (89.25) 6 | 4 (95.44) Stephen Bunting
Jonny Clayton (96.97) 6 | 0 (82.48) Dimitri Van den Bergh
Luke Woodhouse (104.59) 6 | 5 (98.38) Dylan Slevin
Wessel Nijman (96.53) 6 | 1 (85.29) Kevin Doets
Joe Cullen (95.40) 6 | 3 (87.81) Luke Littler
Gian van Veen (96.30) 6 | 4 (86.16) Adam Hunt
Richard Veenstra (96.17) 6 | 5 (95.26) Dirk van Duijvenbode
Danny Noppert (96.75) 6 | 2 (89.95) Ritchie Edhouse
Luke Humphries (91.05) 6 | 2 (86.15) Mensur Suljovic
Mike De Decker (94.44) 6 | 3 (92.80) Daryl Gurney
Darryl Pilgrim (96.97) 6 | 0 (89.60) Alan Soutar
Damon Heta (87.55) 6 | 5 (79.66) Jitse Van der Wal
Last 64
Carl Sneyd (91.90) 6 | 5 (88.35) William Borland
Niels Zonneveld (88.39) 6 | 3 (92.28) Madars Razma
Rob Cross (97.33) 6 | 2 (91.53) Owen Bates
James Hurrell (88.57) 6 | 2 (77.35) Kevin Burness
Callan Rydz (92.02) 6 | 0 (81.16) Marvin van Velzen
Jermaine Wattimena (98.67) 6 | 2 (91.09) Nick Kenny
Ross Smith (91.02) 6 | 5 (94.66) William O'Connor
James Wade (92.42) 6 | 1 (85.70) Mickey Mansell
Stephen Bunting (91.96) 6 | 3 (89.01) Leon Weber
Andrew Gilding (92.48) 6 | 3 (90.53) Sebastian Bialecki
Jonny Clayton (88.72) 6 | 3 (86.68) Stefaan Henderyck
Dimitri Van den Bergh (113.97) 6 | 1 (92.40) Cam Crabtree
Dylan Slevin (92.89) 6 | 3 (90.44) Michele Turetta
Luke Woodhouse (99.26) 6 | 1 (97.64) Christian Kist
Kevin Doets (83.52) 6 | 5 (87.93) Ricky Evans
Wessel Nijman (92.78) 6 | 1 (79.40) Ryan Meikle
Luke Littler (87.38) 6 | 3 (81.77) Martin Lukeman
Joe Cullen (102.72) 6 | 5 (91.50) Scott Williams
Gian van Veen (100.25) 6 | 1 (88.21) Adam Lipscombe
Adam Hunt (81.02) 6 | 4 (78.54) Tavis Dudeney
Richard Veenstra (100.92) 6 | 4 (95.01) Chris Dobey
Dirk van Duijvenbode (89.36) 6 | 3 (91.81) Keane Barry
Danny Noppert (92.95) 6 | 2 (94.53) Karel Sedlacek
Ritchie Edhouse (85.69) 6 | 3 (93.99) Krzysztof Ratajski
Luke Humphries (95.24) 6 | 5 (92.05) Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Mensur Suljovic (98.28) 6 | 5 (89.53) Haupai Puha
Daryl Gurney (88.63) 6 | 4 (88.42) Adam Paxton
Mike De Decker (98.59) 6 | 4 (98.80) Dom Taylor
Darryl Pilgrim (95.67) 6 | 3 (90.30) Josh Rock
Alan Soutar (102.94) 6 | 1 (99.82) Thomas Lovely
Damon Heta (93.30) 6 | 1 (86.43) Kai Gotthardt
Jitse Van der Wal (89.70) 6 | 5 (97.31) Gerwyn Price
Last 128
Carl Sneyd (85.11) 6 | 4 (91.53) Dave Chisnall
William Borland (84.56) 6 | 1 (69.54) Jules van Dongen
Madars Razma (102.34) 6 | 3 (94.99) Brendan Dolan
Niels Zonneveld (100.15) 6 | 5 (95.81) Justin Hood
Rob Cross (91.84) 6 | 2 (93.15) Rob Owen
Owen Bates (97.47) 6 | 4 (94.20) Beau Greaves
Kevin Burness (92.31) 6 | 3 (100.08) Raymond van Barneveld
James Hurrell (91.98) 6 | 2 (81.64) Florian Hempel
Marvin van Velzen (90.46) 6 | 5 (88.99) Martin Schindler
Callan Rydz (92.04) 6 | 1 (85.45) Berry van Peer
Jermaine Wattimena (91.04) 6 | 4 (81.70) Joshua Richardson
Nick Kenny (92.55) 6 | 5 (83.07) Jose De Sousa
Ross Smith (97.07) 6 | 5 (84.78) Brett Claydon
William O'Connor (94.97) 6 | 1 (84.81) Radek Szaganski
James Wade (98.12) 6 | 1 (84.77) Cor Dekker
Mickey Mansell (92.98) 6 | 2 (82.32) Wesley Plaisier
Stephen Bunting (89.82) 6 | 2 (74.75) Bradley Brooks
Leon Weber (83.76) 6 | 2 (84.86) Dennie Olde Kalter
Andrew Gilding (97.77) 6 | 1 (88.59) Tom Bissell
Sebastian Bialecki (89.69) 6 | 2 (87.07) Kim Huybrechts
Jonny Clayton (96.21) 6 | 5 (93.19) Ted Evetts
Stefaan Henderyck (96.36) 6 | 4 (94.58) Stephen Burton
Dimitri Van den Bergh (94.77) 6 | 4 (87.48) Michael Smith
Cam Crabtree (90.25) 6 | 5 (90.86) Andy Baetens
Michele Turetta (104.63) 6 | 4 (107.98) Ryan Searle
Dylan Slevin (100.09) 6 | 4 (90.71) Tommy Lishman
Luke Woodhouse (101.53) 6 | 3 (95.14) Robert Grundy
Christian Kist (91.24) 6 | 1 (86.44) Viktor Tingstrom
Ricky Evans (88.96) 6 | 4 (90.70) Gary Anderson
Kevin Doets (84.14) 6 | 3 (84.72) Adam Warner
Wessel Nijman (90.07) 6 | 2 (84.73) Nathan Rafferty
Ryan Meikle (87.54) 6 | 5 (89.67) Maik Kuivenhoven
Luke Littler (90.97) 6 | 4 (88.57) Jim Long
Martin Lukeman (98.37) 6 | 3 (89.88) Chris Landman
Joe Cullen (91.20) 6 | 5 (88.91) Greg Ritchie
Scott Williams (81.04) 6 | 2 (83.22) Lukas Wenig
Gian van Veen (94.95) 6 | 3 (92.71) Oskar Lukasiak
Adam Lipscombe (84.82) 6 | 4 (83.69) Andy Boulton
Adam Hunt (85.35) 6 | 4 (85.70) Peter Wright
Tavis Dudeney (84.36) 6 | 5 (85.48) Jelle Klaasen
Chris Dobey (97.58) 6 | 4 (96.33) George Killington
Richard Veenstra (106.09) 6 | 0 (88.07) Pero Ljubic
Dirk van Duijvenbode (96.72) 6 | 1 (89.91) Ian White
Keane Barry (86.34) 6 | 4 (88.93) Nathan Aspinall
Danny Noppert (88.70) 6 | 2 (87.25) Thibault Tricole
Karel Sedlacek (91.55) 6 | 2 (88.44) Max Hopp
Ritchie Edhouse (85.29) 6 | 1 (79.05) Dominik Gruellich
Krzysztof Ratajski (105.30) 6 | 1 (89.41) Steve Lennon
Luke Humphries (94.65) 6 | 3 (89.80) Tytus Kanik
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez (95.42) 6 | 4 (88.08) Maximilian Czerwinski
Mensur Suljovic (100.19) 6 | 1 (86.76) Ryan Joyce
Haupai Puha (91.26) 6 | 2 (85.46) Martijn Dragt
Daryl Gurney (96.31) 6 | 3 (86.01) Mario Vandenbogaerde
Adam Paxton (84.12) 6 | 5 (90.54) Darius Labanauskas
Mike De Decker (97.98) 6 | 5 (93.15) Stefan Bellmont
Dom Taylor (98.70) 6 | 2 (94.24) Matt Campbell
Josh Rock (106.08) 6 | 5 (99.47) Connor Scutt
Darryl Pilgrim (89.45) 6 | 4 (89.38) Darren Beveridge
Alan Soutar (100.99) 6 | 1 (93.46) Ricardo Pietreczko
Thomas Lovely (86.41) 6 | 3 (95.39) Niko Springer
Damon Heta (96.96) 6 | 3 (93.11) Gabriel Clemens
Kai Gotthardt (91.80) 6 | 4 (85.30) Rhys Griffin
Gerwyn Price (94.24) 6 | 4 (88.11) Danny Lauby
Jitse Van der Wal (91.15) 6 | 3 (82.88) Patrick Geeraets
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- Beau also skipped Players Championships 7 & 8 next week, and PC 3 & 4 four weeks ago. If she next chooses to miss the Women's Series and PC 13 & 14 in mid-April then we can make a fair guess as to her reason.Scoobedybop13-03-2025
- I've commented before,Phil should let us all remember how great he was,and leave your darts in the drawer. Another humiliation will tarnish everything,you couldn't even beat old blokes who you would have beaten before the game started !!rick6712-03-2025
- I've commented before,Phil should let us all remember how great he was,and leave your darts in the drawer. Another humiliation will tarnish everything,you couldn't even beat old blokes who you would have beaten before the game started !!rick6712-03-2025
- Aspinall was a no-show: Carl Sneyd steps in from the Challenge Tour.Scoobedybop11-03-2025
- Likewise, I have always been a fan of Mervyn and with this worry on his mind, it explains why his form and ranking plummeted. It is really sad to hear this, often chatted to Mervyn and Tracey during the Lakeside days, both are lovely people. It does seem naive not acknowledging the fact it was earnings, surely there must be others in the same situation. I really hope the Kings can get through this....would a go fund me be permittedrichieburnettrocks11-03-2025
- I always like Merv,but he does he seems slightly naive with his comments. I wish you all the best, hope you can get sorted,and try and get back to a decent game,a bit of money.....and get rid of the dogs,if that's your main concern,I believe your priorities may be slightly wrongrick6710-03-2025
- What’s with the dogs element to this story, trying to pull at the heart strings? Just goes to show that being a good dart player does not equate to being that bright. Seriously, ‘I thought you didn’t have to pay tax on winnings’ , your a pro dart player and its your line of work, your not playing the lottery or placing a bet. I think it was Phil Taylor who said you should put a third to one side of all winnings into a bank account, obviously Merv was wearing his earplugs at the time.Mysstree10-03-2025
- The thing is... the folks who "humiliated" Taylor in the Seniors Events never really achieved anything in the important events - like Taylor did. Taylor had/has nothing to prove... and beating Taylor after he had retired is of zero value. Taylor in his prime would have made easy work of all of them. Cheers.MrYnyslas197107-03-2025
- Taylor was humiliated in the seniors events,so he really has nothing to lose by playing littler. I think he should put his darts away,and let us remember what a great player he wasrick6706-03-2025
- actually, since you're asking... yes. yes i do.colt06-03-2025