Rampant Rob Cross downs Joe Cullen to seal opening Players Championship of 2025, first since 2023
PDCIt 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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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

Samuel GillChief Content Officer
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
In his current role, Samuel works closely with editors and writers to ensure content meets clear journalistic standards, with a focus on source verification, editorial consistency, and timely updates when new, confirmed information becomes available.
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- And why should he listen to you?Deduce635807-11-2026
- Ultimately it is a bye for whoever draws Barney. It will be another stroppy and sulky performance once he goes behind. Barney was excellent but really must completely call it a day now.richieburnettrocks07-11-2026
- I'm disappointed he was not able to secure a spot at the Grand Slam. With Carl Sneyd taking care of Daryl Gurney, he would have had to beat Andy Boulton before facing the winner of Sneyd vs Mensur Suljović for a Grand Slam spot. Unfortunately, after beating Filip Bereza comfortably, he succumbed to Boulton, and the board would ultimately be won by the highly inconsistent Carl Sneyd. Since he could instead have been drawn against the likes of Cristo Reyes, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Stephen Bunting, I think once Gurney was out of the picture he would have been favourite to win his board, and it seems like a massive missed opportunity to put 5 grand on his ranking and seal another major TV appearance ahead of the Worlds. The highs and lows of following Raymond van Barneveld!Deduce635806-11-2026
- Probably i will receive a lot of backlash and hate for this reaction, but well, so be it. I am more than sick and tired of those lies of you Barry Hearn. How dare you defend yourself over the back of Fallon’s son! He has a disability and not an illness, so let me correct that for you! I know because I have the exact same disability. I have tried to reach out to Fallon in the past, and offered her to help her and her son, because I was struggling with the same problems, and I understood the boy. I wanted him to have finally someone who understood him. However she told me that she did not want my help, and I have respected Fallon’s choice. I have never asked Fallon for money. They don’t need money in that case. I only ever wanted the best for Fallon and Rory, but I have to be honest about the situation. Fallon should tell the true story and not be forced to tell lies. I don’t hate Fallon, and I don’t begrudge or envy a single penny that she gets, but this situation/case is just not fair. I hate the lies and the dishonesty and injustice. I don’t want Fallon to be hated because there is an unfair disadvantage created. Don’t proclaim your false lies over the back of Rory! I only stand for integrity and justice. I am precisely the one who always sticks up for Fallon. And you don't, you don't give a damn about them. You were never there for them, and now you only want to save your own position! You are just trying to talk your way out of your own bad behavior at the expense of someone with a disability. And to Fallon, I don’t know if this may ever reach you, and you read it, but I want you to know I love you and I love your son Rory very much, I am sorry how things developed and went. I hope you and Harriet are still friends. I am sorry if I were too persistent to you, or you experienced it that way, but it was never my intention. Please understand I have autism as well. As Barry Hearn would say, I am only just a human being too, and I also make mistakes and misjudge things sometimes. I promise you I did everything out of the deepest love and care for you and Rory. If I were you, I should just keep all the money, only please never be dishonest or tell lies anymore for Barry Hearn, or anyone else. I hope you have the best life, and I wish nothing more than the best for you. I have always loved the two of you. Farewell.Hiddo05-11-2026
- She is a professional. If darts is her income, she is a professional. Same as Adrian Lewis, Martin Adams. A tour card just means someone can play on the PDC tour. You could even make a case that Clayton wasn't a professional (until recently I believe) because he had employment elsewhere.BandB04-11-2026
- She's technically not a professional though as she doesn't hold a pro tour card.mr-pablo04-11-2026
- Such a shame that lakeside has been reduced to this. Fantastic venue,and previously a great tournament. Not any morerick6703-11-2026
- Seems to me that the top 16 players pick and choose whatever they want to play. Good,all the money will get spread out more. They get more money from exhibitions than tournaments so let them all withdrawrick6703-11-2026
- Play all legs and the winners split the pot. Luke gets the lot of he wins them all. If your occupation is darts player you can't enter, regardless of ability.BandB01-11-2026
- I'm quite a jaded person all things considered, but to be honest I found Beat Luke Littler to be pretty entertaining. It certainly wasn't seamless, which is to be expected given the lack of precedence, but I actually think the pacing was pretty good, the production was impressive, and there was a good sense of humour and levity to it. I think it was a very ambitious undertaking but one that, for the most part, paid off. I liked the system with the four pots and I think it added to the drama and intrigue. I enjoyed seeing the diverse range of entrants and learning about their backstories. I think the interactivity was pretty clever and well-integrated. The panel was a little incoherent at times; Lee Mack shone however, and his improvisational skills were appreciated during some more awkward interstitial moments. As far as the darts is concerned, it was a shame that the format didn't allow Littler to get into full flow. You obviously don't want him to steamroll everyone but you want to feel like you're getting the full Littler package rather than seeing him struggling to get out of first gear. I will say that his leg against Jayden Walker was very impressive, but it was mostly downhill from there. The attraction revolves around Littler being this untouchable, indomitable force, yet the format doesn't really allow him to fulfil that characterisation. As for Fallon Sherrock, she was mightily impressive and deserved the victory. It is a testament to her unshakeable character that she was able to bang in a 14-darter under such mind-bending pressure. Everything that has been said about the misleading marketing is valid, though they were clear about their eligibility criteria and were able to offload the responsibility somewhat by bringing the viewers into the decision-making process in real time. What is clear though, is that Fallon played the game according to the rules, and she should not be criticised for that, much less abused. I will admit though that it is a kick in the teeth for those true amateurs who committed time and money to the course, and I would also question those who think pub players would have no chance, given that some of Littler's winning legs were dispatched in 7 visits to the board! The great thing about darts is that it isn't so much that amateurs cannot replicate the feats of brilliance pulled off by professionals of the sport, than it is that they simply cannot replicate the consistency of their output, something that this format almost entirely removes from the equation. It should also be noted that, financially, Fallon certainly stands to benefit much less in relative terms from the paycheque than would your average pub thrower, as I'm sure she nets a fair income from the lucrative exhibition circuit alone. What I do hope is that she might use this as an opportunity to really build up a head of steam heading into the new season, as it seems long overdue that she come through Q-School and really take it to the pros on a week-in week-out basis, but whatever she chooses to do, she has certainly achieved enough already for one if not several lifetimes, so who am I to dictate terms? To conclude though, I will state once again that I found Beat Luke Littler to be a pretty enjoyable evening of entertainment. I do feel for the contestants who never actually had the chance to try their luck against the world #1, although I suppose it comes with the format, but all which inevitably raises the question: will Netflix be tempted to do it all again next year? It's hard to say. Whether it would be financially viable, I can't weigh in there. One point I have been making though, and which I touched on earlier, is that the entire concept relies on a public perception that Littler is more or less unbeatable, and that certainly hasn't been the case of late. If the execs had been trying to pitch the show in recent months while Littler has seemed vulnerable, rather than when he was mopping up almost every major title on the calendar, it would certainly be a tougher sell. We will have to see in about 6 months' time whether Littler can still reliably command perception as a near-unstoppable force in darts, and then we'll have a clearer idea about whether we should expect a second helping. Even as a one-off experiment though, and with all the controversy taken into account, I still don't think they disgraced themselves by any means, and that will probably be my lingering assessment of the event when all is said and done.Deduce635801-11-2026







