Three-ton Cross cruises into Polish Darts Masters quarter-finals
Rob Cross continued his impressive form as he powered into the Polish Darts Masters quarter-finals with a 6-1 rout of Sebastian Bialecki.
The former World champion is the form player in the World Series of Darts, winning the US Darts Masters before he was runner-up to Gerwyn Price at last weekend’s Nordic Darts Masters.
Cross built on that momentum, hitting three ton-plus finishes against the former UK Open finalist at PreZero Arena in Gliwice on Friday.
‘Voltage’ opened with back-to-back checkouts of 156 and 116, while he did not miss a dart at a double on the way to a 4-0 lead.
Bialecki stopped the rot after cross missed a dart at double 16 for a 110, but he took out 100 to seal the deal.
Next up is a clash with Stephen Bunting, who averaged just 100 as he put Krzysztof Ratajski to the sword by the same scoreline.
The Polish Eagles missed 10 darts at doubles in the opening two legs, and Bunting capitalised before a 116 checkout was followed by 13 and 14-dart legs to finish.
Reigning champion Michael van Gerwen made a strong start to his title defence, hitting a 115 checkout on the way to sweeping Karel Sedlacek aside 6-1.
That set up a quarter-final showdown with Boris Krcmar, who stunned World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall 6-4.
Despite breaking and hitting a 127 checkout, Croatia’s number one found himself 3-2 behind as Aspinall won three successive legs.
However, he broke again with a 14-darter in game seven, before taking out 70 for an impressive victory.
Luke Littler survived a scare against Adam Gawlas, who recovered from 5-1 down to trail 5-4, before seeing off the 2023 UK Open semi-finalist 6-4.
The top seed will now face Peter Wright, who hit two ton-plus finishes of 120 and 104 as he whitewashed TV debutant Jacek Krupka 6-0.
Reigning World champion Luke Humphries was a commanding 6-1 winner over Hungarian qualifier Gyorgy Jehirszki, hitting 15 and 14-darters along the way.
‘Cool Hand’ takes on Michael Smith in the last eight. The 2023 World champion was far from his best, hitting just six of his 34 attempts at a double as he struggled past Radek Szaganski 6-4.
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Poland Darts Masters 2024 Results
Friday, June 14
First Round
Rob Cross 6-1 Sebastian Bialecki
Nathan Aspinall 4-6 Boris Krcmar
Michael Smith 6-4 Radek Szaganski
Peter Wright 6-0 Jacek Krupka
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Karel Sedlacek
Luke Littler 6-4 Adam Gawlas
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Krzysztof Ratajski
Luke Humphries 6-1 Gyorgy Jehirszki
