Rob Cross holds off comeback from Haupai Puha and reaches quarter-finals at Australian Darts Masters after Damon Heta eases through

Rob Cross has narrowly qualified for the quarterfinals at the 2024 Australian Darts Masters. The former world champion had to pull out all the stops to beat his opponent Haupai Puha. The New Zealander was the only local player who managed to give a PDC star a hard time, only losing out in a decisive leg.

'Voltage' had an excellent World Series block in June, when he managed to reach the final at all three tournaments in New York, Copenhagen and Gliwice. In New York, Cross even got to lift the big cup. Meanwhile, Cross already has four World Series titles, three of which were won Down Under.

Once again, Cross got off to an excellent start. He started the match strongly by taking a 4-0 lead with a 14-darter and two 12-darters, among other things. The Englishman was heading for an easy win, but fumbled darts in the sixth and seventh leg led to a comeback by Puha.

After the fifth leg was won by Puha, Cross missed seven chances in the sixth leg to make it 5-1. Puha threw a 22-darter to cut the deficit to 4-2. In leg seven, "Voltage" missed another seven darts on the double, then Puha punished these misses with a 70 finish. Puha then tied the score with an 18-darter in the eighth leg. Cross recaptured the lead with a 13-darter, and then his New Zealand opponent forced a deciding leg with a 13-darter. Puha got off to a great start in the final leg with scores of 180 and 123, but could not capitalize on his only match dart. Cross then pulled out the win with a fine 80 finish.

Damon Heta wasted significantly less energy in his first round. 'The Heat' won the showdown with his New Zealand opponent John Hurring easily 6-0. Heta recorded an average of 89 and a finishing percentage of 46 percent in the process.

With the wins by Cross and Heta, all eight PDC stars have managed to make it to the last eight. Cross will play Peter Wright in the quarter-finals, while for Heta a meeting with Gerwyn Price awaits. Luke Humphries will take on Dimitri van den Bergh, and Luke Littler gets to face Michael Smith.