Rob Cross captures Players Championship 27 crown
Rob Cross secured his second ranking title of the year at Players Championship 27 in Barnsley on Saturday with an 8-4 victory over Peter Wright in the final.
Cross followed up August’s Players Championship 24 triumph with another £12,000 title at the Barnsley Metrodome as he continued his preparation for next week’s European Championship title defence in style.
The world number eight registered a trio of ton-plus averages en route to the final, before powering past the reigning World Champion with three ton-plus checkouts to his name.
Wright had established a 3-2 lead in the final, but a masterclass of finishing from Cross saw him convert 50% of his attempts at the outer ring to take the game away from the world number one.
Cross landed finishes of 164, 160 and 143 and claimed six of the last eight legs to return to the winner’s circle.
“It’s funny because I was saying to my manager recently that I felt the only part of my game that’s been missing of late has been my big finishing,” said Cross.
“In the Semi-Finals I had to be at my best to get past Callan Rydz; he’s got a lot of bottle.
“I’m enjoying spending time with my family, which is important. When the balance is right I can be dangerous.
“Going forward, I think there’s no limit to where I can go.”
Cross began his charge to glory with a 6-4 victory over Jason Lowe, before back-to-back ton-plus averages came in wins over Danny Baggish and Brendan Dolan.
The former World Champion then saw off George Killington to reach the Quarter-Finals – where he defeated Stephen Bunting 6-2.
His strongest performance of the day came in a 7-5 Semi-Final victory over Callan Rydz, averaging just shy of 111.
Wright continued his strong spell of form with a trio of ton-plus averages in reaching his first Players Championship final since April.
Ryan Meikle enjoyed a superb run to the Semi-Finals of a PDC ranking event for the first time, defeating the likes of Kim Huybrechts, Joe Cullen, Martin Lukeman and Gary Anderson along the way.
Ryan Searle produced a nine-dart finish in his First Round tie against Ryan Joyce, but went on to lose 6-5.
Gerwyn Price suffered a First Round exit at the hands of five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld, while the likes of Nathan Aspinall, Adrian Lewis, Michael Smith and Friday’s champion Damon Heta also fell at the first hurdle.
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Players Championship 27 Results
Saturday October 22
First Round
Luke Humphries 6-1 Bradley Brooks
Geert Nentjes 6-2 Karel Sedlacek
Callan Rydz 6-2 Eddie Lovely
Steve Lennon 6-4 Connor Scutt
Martin Schindler 6-1 Jamie Clark
Richie Burnett 6-1 Brett Claydon
Adam Gawlas 6-5 Krzysztof Ratajski
Nathan Rafferty 6-5 Devon Petersen
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Andy Boulton
Alan Soutar 6-2 Kevin Doets
Madars Razma 6-4 John Michael
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Ross Smith
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1 Darius Labanauskas
Mensur Suljovic 6-4 Jason Heaver
Steve Beaton 6-1 Gabriel Clemens
Mike De Decker 6-1 Jurjen van der Velde
Rob Cross 6-4 Jason Lowe
Danny Baggish 6-3 Jose Justicia
Brendan Dolan 6-1 Scott Mitchell
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-2 Ross Montgomery
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Mervyn King
Darren Webster 6-3 Adam Hunt
George Killington 6-4 Daryl Gurney
John O’Shea 6-5 Ricky Evans
Joe Murnan 6-2 Michael Smith
William Borland 6-2 Jake Jones
Scott Waites 6-4 Rowby Rodriguez
Jimmy Hendriks 6-1 Jim McEwan
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Gerwyn Price
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Ritchie Edhouse
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Damian Mol
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-0 Glen Durrant
Shaun Wilkinson 6-1 Damon Heta
Peter Hudson 6-4 Rusty Rodriguez
Danny van Trijp 6-3 Scott Williams
Vincent van der Voort 6-4 Kevin Burness
Jose de Sousa 6-1 Tony Martinez
Keegan Brown 6-2 Kenny Neyens
Jamie Hughes 6-0 Andrew Gilding
James Wilson 6-3 Ian White
Peter Wright 6-1 Luc Peters
Danny Jansen 6-5 Geert De Vos
Martijn Kleermaker 6-2 Adrian Lewis
Gian van Veen 6-1 Maik Kuivenhoven
Danny Noppert 6-3 Radek Szaganski
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-2 Nick Fullwell
Josh Rock 6-1 Steve West
Mickey Mansell 6-2 Christian Kist
Gary Anderson 6-4 Nathan Aspinall
Berry van Peer 6-4 Jeff Smith
James Wade 6-3 Cameron Menzies
Keane Barry 6-3 Ron Meulenkamp
William O’Connor 6-1 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Ted Evetts 6-5 Luke Woodhouse
Chris Dobey 6-4 Stephen Burton
John Henderson 6-4 David Evans
Joe Cullen 6-3 Jack Main
Wesley Plaisier 6-1 Max Hopp
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Brian Raman
Ryan Meikle 6-2 Jim Williams
Ryan Joyce 6-5 Ryan Searle – *Searle hits a nine-darter*
Matt Campbell 6-3 Jules van Dongen
Martin Lukeman 6-0 Niels Zonneveld
Florian Hempel 6-4 Boris Krcmar
Second Round
Luke Humphries 6-0 Geert Nentjes
Callan Rydz 6-5 Steve Lennon
Richie Burnett 6-5 Martin Schindler
Adam Gawlas 6-4 Nathan Rafferty
Alan Soutar 6-5 Dave Chisnall
Madars Razma 6-4 Simon Whitlock
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Mensur Suljovic
Steve Beaton 6-3 Mike De Decker
Rob Cross 6-2 Danny Baggish
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Ricardo Pietreczko
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Darren Webster
George Killington 6-2 John O’Shea
Joe Murnan 6-4 William Borland
Scott Waites 6-2 Jimmy Hendriks
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Shaun Wilkinson 6-4 Peter Hudson
Danny van Trijp 6-4 Vincent van der Voort
Jose de Sousa 6-3 Keegan Brown
James Wilson 6-3 Jamie Hughes
Peter Wright 6-1 Danny Jansen
Gian van Veen 6-2 Martijn Kleermaker
Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-3 Danny Noppert
Josh Rock 6-3 Mickey Mansell
Gary Anderson 6-2 Berry van Peer
James Wade 6-2 Keane Barry
William O’Connor 6-2 Ted Evetts
Chris Dobey 6-3 John Henderson
Joe Cullen 6-5 Wesley Plaisier
Ryan Meikle 6-2 Kim Huybrechts
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Matt Campbell
Martin Lukeman 6-1 Florian Hempel
Losers: £750
Last 32
Callan Rydz 6-5 Luke Humphries
Richie Burnett 6-3 Adam Gawlas
Alan Soutar 6-2 Madars Razma
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Steve Beaton
Rob Cross 6-4 Brendan Dolan
George Killington 6-4 Jonny Clayton
Joe Murnan 6-4 Scott Waites
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena
Danny van Trijp 6-5 Shaun Wilkinson
Jose de Sousa 6-1 James Wilson
Peter Wright 6-2 Gian van Veen
Josh Rock 6-2 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Gary Anderson 6-5 James Wade
Chris Dobey 6-2 William O’Connor
Ryan Meikle 6-3 Joe Cullen
Martin Lukeman 6-3 Ryan Joyce
Losers: £1,250
Last 16
Callan Rydz 6-2 Richie Burnett
Alan Soutar 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Rob Cross 6-4 George Killington
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Joe Murnan
Jose de Sousa 6-3 Danny van Trijp
Peter Wright 6-5 Josh Rock
Gary Anderson 6-2 Chris Dobey
Ryan Meikle 6-3 Martin Lukeman
Losers: £2,000
Quarter-Finals
Callan Rydz 6-1 Alan Soutar
Rob Cross 6-2 Stephen Bunting
Peter Wright 6-3 Jose de Sousa
Ryan Meikle 6-4 Gary Anderson
Losers: £3,000
Semi-Finals
Rob Cross 7-5 Callan Rydz
Peter Wright 7-2 Ryan Meikle
Losers: £4,000
Final
Rob Cross 8-4 Peter Wright
Winner: £12,000
Runner-up: £8,000
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