Rob Cross claims New Zealand Darts Masters crown

Rob Cross ended a five-year wait for a World Series title as he triumphed at the 2023 New Zealand Darts Masters with an 8-7 win over Nathan Aspinall in the final.

Cross, whose only previous World Series success had come at the 2018 Brisbane Masters, fought back superbly from 5-2 down in the final to deny Aspinall back-to-back televised titles.

The former World Champion almost kicked off proceedings with back-to-back 12-darters, but after missing multiple darts to double his lead, he gave Aspinall an early lifeline which the Stockport star duly exploited.

The pair then traded three consecutive breaks of throw in a topsy-turvy spell, before Aspinall stretched his lead to 5-2 with legs of 14 and 13 darts – aided by 171 set-up shots in consecutive legs.

Cross responded by winning four of the next five legs in 12, 14, 13 and 14 darts to cut the gap to 5-6, and he then levelled at six apiece with a crucial 64 outshot, after Aspinall missed one dart at tops for 7-5.

The pendulum swung once again as Aspinall broke to move a leg away from victory, but Cross was not to be denied, following up a 14-dart skin-saver with an 88 finish in the decider to complete the comeback.

“To win this title is absolutely amazing,” said Cross.

“At the moment, every chance you give Nathan he normally takes, but he let me off a little bit later in the game, after I missed some opportunities early on.

“The standard is so high, so when you can win [a title] when you’ve not been at your best, it speaks volumes about where my game is.

“It’s all memories. When I pack up eventually, I will look back and see what I’ve won and remember the great moments and people along the way.”

Earlier in the evening, Cross won through another last-leg decider in his Quarter-Final clash against New Zealand newcomer Jonny Tata – who dumped out two-time World Champion Peter Wright in Friday’s opening round.

The 32-year-old then ended Gerwyn Price’s unbeaten record in New Zealand, converting three ton-plus checkouts to celebrate a superb 7-3 success against the defending champion.

Cross fired in finishes of 120 and 124 en route to victory, defying four 180s and a 99 average from Price to register his first win over the Welshman since October 2019.

Aspinall, meanwhile, eased through to the Semi-Finals with a 6-1 rout of Haupai Puha – who was unable to emulate the performance that saw him dispatch Dimitri van den Bergh in Round One.

The world number five then produced his highest televised average in an extraordinary Semi-Final victory over World Champion Michael Smith – who bowed out despite averaging 107.

Smith kicked off the contest with a trio of 12-dart holds, only for Aspinall to reel off the last five legs in 13, 15, 11, 11 and 13 darts to close out a 7-3 win with a staggering 110.2 average.

“It’s been another fantastic tournament for myself,” admitted Aspinall.

“I’m still on cloud nine. I’m number five in the world and I’m getting opportunities like this. What an amazing arena, what an amazing country and I can’t wait to get back here next year.

“It does hurt to lose. Rob let me off in the beginning and I punished him for that. I shouldn’t lose the match from 5-2 up, but this is darts.

“Fair play to Rob. He played some fantastic darts after the break. I wanted to win, I thought I was going to win, but he put me under so much pressure at the end there, and he deserved to win.”

The evening’s opening quarter-final saw Price power past Danny Noppert, with the Welshman reeling off five consecutive legs and landing 122 and 132 finishes on the bull to triumph with a 105 average.

Elsewhere, Smith survived three match darts in his last eight victory over Australia’s number one Damon Heta, who had fought back from 5-3 down to force a last-leg shoot-out.

New Zealand Darts Masters 2023 Day Two Results

Saturday August 5

Quarter-Finals
Gerwyn Price 6-1 Danny Noppert
Jonny Tata 5-6 Rob Cross
Michael Smith 6-5 Damon Heta
Haupai Puha 1-6 Nathan Aspinall

Semi-Finals
Rob Cross 7-3 Gerwyn Price
Nathan Aspinall 7-3 Michael Smith

Final
Rob Cross 8-7 Nathan Aspinall

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