Cross dominates faltering Price to win the European Championship
Former world champion Rob Cross comfortably beat Gerwyn Price 11-6 in Germany to claim his first ever European Championship title.
The Welshman had the throw in the first leg, which gave him the chance to make a quick start and take a 1-0 lead. Cross just about held his throw in the second leg with a mad house D1 finish, after Price had an attempt at 117 to break the throw.
A 171 from 211 left Cross with just D20 to take out to take a 2-1 lead on Price’s throw, a chance that he eventually took. A T16 and D18 combo cemented Cross’ advantage to take the next leg, before Price managed to bring the game back to 3-2 going in to the break.
Gerwyn Price almost made it 3-3 after having a dart at double tops, before Cross woke up and took the leg to restore his two leg cushion. The seventh leg saw the English player miss two darts at a double which allowed Price to hold on and keep himself in the match. Cross set himself up nicely yet again in the following leg with a 174 to leave D18.
At 5-3, the match was still in the balance. However, Cross broke Price’s throw again in the ninth leg and had a great chance to take a 7-3 lead with a throw. He had six darts to take out 84 and needed five of those to take a four leg lead.
Each player held their throw throughout the third session which took the score to 9-6 in Rob Cross’ favour, putting him within two legs of the European Championship title. Cross held his throw in the first leg after the interval, leaving himself with a finish after nine darts. He then took advantage of several missed doubles from Price to win the match 11-6.
Tournament Results:
First Round:
Michael van Gerwen 5 – 6 Ross Smith
Glen Durrant 5 – 6 Ricky Evans
Joe Cullen 6 – 2 Mervyn King
Rob Cross 6 – 3 Darren Webster
Dave Chisnall 6 – 3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
James Wade 0 – 6 Jonny Clayton
Daryl Gurney 6 – 4 William O’Connor
Adrian Lewis 1 – 6 Simon Whitlock
Ian White 1 – 6 Michael Smith
Keegan Brown 1 – 6 Stephen Bunting
Peter Wright 4 – 6 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Jamie Hughes 1 – 6 Jermaine Wattimena
Mensur Suljovic 1 – 6 Vincent van der Voort
Krzysztof Ratajski 3 – 6 Chris Dobey
Gerwyn Price 6 – 4 Ted Evetts
Nathan Aspinall 6 – 3 Steve Beaton
Second Round:
Ross Smith 7 – 10 Ricky Evans
Joe Cullen 7 – 10 Rob Cross
Dave Chisnall 10 – 4 Jonny Clayton
Daryl Gurney 10 – 7 Simon Whitlock
Michael Smith 10 – 7 Stephen Bunting
Jeffrey de Zwaan 10 – 6 Jermaine Wattimena
Vincent van der Voort 10 – 5 Chris Dobey
Gerwyn Price 10 – 6 Nathan Aspinall
Quarter Finals:
Ricky Evans 6 – 10 Rob Cross
Dave Chisnall 5 – 10 Daryl Gurney
Michael Smith 10 – 5 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Vincent van der Voort 8 – 10 Gerwyn Price
Semi Finals:
Rob Cross 11 – 9 Daryl Gurney
Michael Smith 7 – 11 Gerwyn Price
Upcoming PDC events:
November 1st – 3rd: World Series of Darts Finals
November 22nd – 24th: Players Championship Finals
November 24th: Youth World Championship Final
December 13th – January 1st: World Darts Championship