Rob Cross clinches first title of 2022 at Players Championship 24

Rob Cross claimed his first ranking title of 2022 at Players Championship 24 in Barnsley with an 8-3 victory over Luke Humphries in the final.

The pair were meeting in their third ranking final of the season, with Humphries having won  both previous encounters to claim European Tour titles in Prague and Stuttgart.

However, Cross gained his revenge by reeling off seven of the last eight legs to complete a commanding triumph, denying Humphries his sixth ranking title of the year.

Following four straight holds to kick off Friday’s final, Cross struck the first blow with a 12-dart break in leg five, cementing that advantage to establish a two-leg buffer.

The 31-year-old then produced a sublime 123 checkout on the bull to stretch his lead to 6-3, and after converting a two-dart 76 kill to move to the brink of victory, he sealed the deal with a 15-darter via double ten.

“I’m enjoying my darts again,” said Cross, who averaged 98.8 in the final.

“This week my form had been disastrous, but I turned up today and got the win, which takes a little bit of pressure off.

“These are great tournaments to win. Every player is capable of hitting 100+ averages, but getting back on that stage from September onwards, that’s where I want to be.

“That is where I belong, and I love it. My only goal is to win, nothing more, nothing less.”

Cross produced his best performance of the day in the Semi-Finals, averaging 109.5 to dispatch Chris Dobey 7-4.

The 2018 World Champion was the epitome of consistency at the Barnsley Metrodome, easing past Karel Sedlacek and David Evans earlier in the day, before edging out UK Open semi-finalist Keane Barry in a last-leg shoot-out.

Cross then swept aside Mickey Mansell to seal his spot in the Last Eight – where he defeated Jose De Sousa – avenging his defeat against the Portuguese star at last month’s World Matchplay.

Humphries was unable to secure his second Players Championship crown of 2022 despite firing in four ton-plus averages, including a sensational 111 in his Semi-Final success against Martin Schindler.

The Newbury ace also posted a stunning 108.65 average to whitewash Luc Peters, after recording battling victories over American duo Danny Baggish and Jules van Dongen.

Humphries then defied ton-plus averages from Matt Campbell and Dimitri Van den Bergh to seal his place in the semi-finals, where he rattled in four successive 12-darters to stun Schindler.

“Credit to Rob, he deserves a title with the way he’s been playing this year,” admitted Humphries.

“In the quarter-finals and semi-finals today I pulled it out of the bag, I played really well, and I felt really good in the final, they just weren’t dropping in.”

German number two Schindler was featuring in his second ProTour semi-final in as many months, defeating veteran duo Steve Beaton and Simon Whitlock en route to the Semi-Finals.

Two-time ProTour winner Dobey also impressed, posting two ton-plus averages and dumping out Mensur Suljovic before succumbing to an inspired Cross.

Elsewhere, Jack Main remarkably landed his second nine-darter in as many days, achieving perfection during his Second Round victory over Niels Zonneveld.

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Players Championship 24 Results

Friday August 5

First Round
Luke Humphries 6-5 Danny Baggish
Luc Peters 6-0 Brett Claydon
Josh Rock 6-0 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Jules van Dongen 6-5 Danny van Trijp
Daryl Gurney 6-5 Gary Anderson
Florian Hempel 6-4 Scott Marsh
Stephen Bunting 6-0 Mike De Decker
Matt Campbell 6-3 Max Hopp
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 John O’Shea
Steve West 6-4 Kevin Doets
Ross Smith 6-2 Jimmy Hendriks
Radek Szaganski 6-4 James Wilson
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-3 Matthew Edgar
Damian Mol 6-3 Stu Wilson
Jamie Hughes 6-1 Scott Williams
Brian Raman 6-5 Lewy Williams
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Jim Williams
George Killington 6-3 Lee Evans
John Brown 6-4 Keegan Brown
Shaun Wilkinson 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Brendan Dolan 6-3 William Borland
Ted Evetts 6-5 Ross Montgomery
Madars Razma 6-0 Ron Meulenkamp
Gian van Veen 6-4 Rusty Rodriguez
Jack Main 6-3 Ryan Searle
Niels Zonneveld 6-5 Andy Boulton
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Adam Hunt
Scott Mitchell 6-5 Martijn Kleermaker
Martin Schindler 6-3 Ryan Joyce
Robert Owen 6-3 Ricardo Pietreczko
Martin Lukeman 6-0 Glen Durrant
Steve Beaton 6-5 Gordon Mathers
Nathan Aspinall 6-1 Devon Petersen
Geert De Vos 6-5 Ian White
Mervyn King 6-3 Tony Martinez
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-0 Nathan Rafferty
Cameron Menzies 6-2 Andrew Gilding
Scott Waites 6-1 Peter Hudson
Chris Dobey 6-5 Darren Webster
Luke Woodhouse 6-5 William O’Connor
Jim McEwan 6-5 Peter Wright
Bradley Brooks 6-2 Nick Fullwell
Mensur Suljovic 6-3 Joe Murnan
Boris Krcmar 6-1 Jason Lowe
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Maik Kuivenhoven
Jon Worsley 6-5 Eddie Lovely
Ricky Evans 6-4 Danny Jansen
Pete Burgoyne 6-2 Berry van Peer
Rob Cross 6-2 Karel Sedlacek
David Evans 6-1 Stephen Burton
Keane Barry 6-2 Boris Koltsov
Geert Nentjes 6-5 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Richie Burnett 6-3 Gabriel Clemens
Jason Heaver 6-5 Jake Jones
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Adam Gawlas
Mickey Mansell 6-1 Alan Soutar
Danny Noppert 6-2 Jose Justicia
Jamie Clark 6-5 Steve Lennon
Vincent van der Voort 6-4 John Henderson
Kevin Burness 6-2 Connor Scutt
Jose de Sousa 6-3 Graham Usher
Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Darius Labanauskas
Rowby Rodriguez 6-4 Kenny Neyens
Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 Jeff Smith

Second Round
Luke Humphries 6-0 Luc Peters
Jules van Dongen 6-5 Josh Rock
Florian Hempel 6-2 Daryl Gurney
Matt Campbell 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Steve West 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Ross Smith 6-5 Radek Szaganski
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-1 Damian Mol
Brian Raman 6-5 Jamie Hughes
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 George Killington
Shaun Wilkinson 6-3 John Brown
Brendan Dolan 6-4 Ted Evetts
Madars Razma 6-4 Gian van Veen
Jack Main 6-5 Niels Zonneveld – *Main hits a nine-darter*
Simon Whitlock 6-5 Scott Mitchell
Martin Schindler 6-4 Robert Owen
Steve Beaton 6-3 Martin Lukeman
Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Geert De Vos
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-1 Mervyn King
Cameron Menzies 6-4 Scott Waites
Chris Dobey 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
Bradley Brooks 6-4 Jim McEwan
Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Boris Krcmar
Dave Chisnall 6-0 Jon Worsley
Pete Burgoyne 6-5 Ricky Evans
Rob Cross 6-3 David Evans
Keane Barry 6-5 Geert Nentjes
Richie Burnett 6-4 Jason Heaver
Mickey Mansell 6-2 Kim Huybrechts
Jamie Clark 6-5 Danny Noppert
Vincent van der Voort 6-4 Kevin Burness
Jose de Sousa 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena
Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 Rowby Rodriguez
Losers: £750

Last 32
Luke Humphries 6-4 Jules van Dongen
Matt Campbell 6-3 Florian Hempel
Ross Smith 6-3 Steve West
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-1 Brian Raman
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-5 Shaun Wilkinson
Madars Razma 6-3 Brendan Dolan
Simon Whitlock 6-2 Jack Main
Martin Schindler 6-1 Steve Beaton
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-4 Nathan Aspinall
Chris Dobey 6-3 Cameron Menzies
Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Bradley Brooks
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Pete Burgoyne
Rob Cross 6-5 Keane Barry
Mickey Mansell 6-2 Richie Burnett
Vincent van der Voort 6-5 Jamie Clark
Jose de Sousa 6-3 Ritchie Edhouse
Losers: £1,250

Last 16
Luke Humphries 6-3 Matt Campbell
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-2 Ross Smith
Madars Razma 6-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Martin Schindler 6-2 Simon Whitlock
Chris Dobey 6-3 Krzysztof Kciuk
Mensur Suljovic 6-4 Dave Chisnall
Rob Cross 6-1 Mickey Mansell
Jose de Sousa 6-1 Vincent van der Voort
Losers: £2,000

Quarter-Finals
Luke Humphries 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Martin Schindler 6-5 Madars Razma
Chris Dobey 6-3 Mensur Suljovic
Rob Cross 6-4 Jose de Sousa
Losers: £3,000

Semi-Finals
Luke Humphries 7-3 Martin Schindler
Rob Cross 7-4 Chris Dobey
Losers: £4,000

Final
Rob Cross 8-3 Luke Humphries
Winner: £12,000
Runner-up: £8,000