Rob Cross withdraws from Dutch Darts Championship after completing late U-turn due to 'personal reasons'
PDC
Rob Cross will play no part in the Dutch Darts Championship after withdrawing from the tournament. The three-time European Tour winner shared the news on social media with him returning back to England due to 'personal reasons.'
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'Voltage' was set to challenge for the title in Maaschrit after playing himself into some decent form as of late. Unfortunately, the 16th seed will be featuring on the oche this weekend.
On Instagram, he released the news confirming that he will not appear in proceedings. "I had just arrived in Maastricht. But unfortunately I’ve had to pull out of the tournament and return back home due to personal reasons. Apologies to the PDC Europe and all the fans."
The late change in plans will be a bitter blow for Cross amid his recent form, but he will be in Dortmund for the European Championship. A two-time champion, Cross has earned £54,000 on the European Tour Order of Merit, placing him in 19th. His place is under no threat, and if all is well, then he will be making the trip back to Germany to compete in the major event.
Late replacement called up
Cross was supposed to enter the tournament on Saturday, the seventh game in the afternoon session. He was set to clash against either Ricardo Pietreczko or Host Nation Qualifier Heine Uuldriks.
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Those honours will now go the way of Brendan Dolan, who is called up as a very late replacement. He has been directly entered into the second round. The Irishman will feature in only his third European Tour event of 2026 and will relish this opportunity to impress. His European Championship hopes rest on an unlikely title charge, with his one and only final coming all the way back in 2013 in the Dutch Darts Masters.
The tournament is the 15th and final on the European Tour this year and will take place from October 16-18.
Lucas MichaelDarts Journalist
Lucas Michael is a darts journalist and reporter based in Cambridge, UK, and has been part of the DartsNews team since 2025. He covers professional darts through reports, analysis, round-ups, and live coverage, with a focus on clear context and accurate reporting across the PDC calendar.
A key part of his work is liveblogging major tournaments throughout the year, providing real-time updates, match coverage, and contextual reporting across the professional circuit. He also reports regularly from events on site and has covered the PDC World Darts Championship from the venue, delivering first-hand insight throughout the tournament.
Within the newsroom, Lucas works closely with the editorial team and supports coverage alongside Chief Content Officer Samuel Gill and reporter Kieran Wood.
Lucas holds a BA (Hons) in Sports Journalism. In his work, he places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating content promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Joking aside, it is the second most watched sport on sky (more than golf, F1 etc) behind football only, and in participation is second to only football and swimming. It doesn't get the attention or sponsorship of "bigger" sports because it's not as sexy, but it's right up there.BandB13-10-2026
- i love darts but you can't seriously believe it's the second most popular sport in the uk. even top five is pushing it. it may be the fastest growing, though.colt13-10-2026
- I'm a big Clayton fan, but he's got this completely wrong. Qualification criteria exists for a reason - so just as failing to make the top 32/64 for the Euro championships/PT Finals means you miss out, so does not lifting a title for this one.26sForFun12-10-2026
- The players who deliberately slow the game down are usually boring and win very little in the way of silverware. Horrible to watch.MrYnyslas197112-10-2026
- [“The Gentle” then used a sweeping and questionable phrase...] You anglocucks are hilariously finished in every sense of the word.Critical99911-10-2026
- I love Jonny but I disagree. The Grand Slam was always supposed to be "champion of champions" type competition. If the top 16 are guaranteed participation in everything there will be so much less jeopardy involved in qualifying and each major tournament will lose its unique flavour which the PDC has worked hard trying to develop. I enjoy following the qualification races towards the end of the year, and while consistency should have its rewards, the truth is Jonny hasn't reached a major final all year or won a single event on the Pro Tour. Being consistent is one thing, but that alone should have consequences as the sport's elite should not be prepared to accept consistently strong performances, their foremost motivation should be to win and this should be what separates them from the rest, not the consistency of their performances. Jonny is expecting that losing should be enough; it shouldn't be, at least not as far as the Grand Slam is concerned.Deduce635811-10-2026
- Well being honest,it doesn't matter what level you play at, there's always someone who slows it down to suit themselves,and extra swig of water, replacing flights, asking the ref what the score is. It happens wherever. I'm not saying it's professional,but I'm sure we've all seen it beforerick6711-10-2026
- Agree completely. Not sure how a ranking event can have a criteria not based on rankings. And he right on popularity. In the UK second only to football.BandB11-10-2026
- Doesn't matter who's in it,it's boringrick6710-10-2026
- Assuming you qualify as one of the "muppets" in question. Classist too. And since you're so clearly interested in academia, look up "linguistic descriptivism" while you're at it. Oh, and better stay away from the working class sport of darts and maybe offer your insightful analysis to, let's say, croquet instead?Deduce635806-10-2026
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