Rob Cross releases statement to explain his obscene gesture during shock World Darts Championship exit

ROB CROSS has apologised for the lewd gesture he made during his shock defeat to Scott Williams.

The 2018 world champion, 34, was dumped out of the Ally Pally tournament on Monday night as he suffered a surprise 3-1 loss.

As he made his way off the stage at the end of one of the sets, he was spotted imitating a sexual act to the crowd.

Now Cross has explained the gesture by insisting it was aimed at his manager, while he also took the time to apologise to anyone offended by his actions.

Speaking on , he said: "Massively disappointed to lose out to my great friend Scott Williams.

"Good luck to him for the rest of the tournament.

"I made a gesture to my manager about how annoyed I was with my performance. If it offended anyone, I apologise.

"Merry Christmas everyone. 🌲"

Cross won his only world title on his Ally Pally debut nearly seven years ago.

He then failed to make it beyond the fourth round in his following five world championship appearances.

Last year, he made a surprise run to the semi-finals before being beaten 6-2 by Luke Littler.

But he had no answer to Williams on Monday as he became the latest big-name darting casualty.

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Cross' defeat came on the same night that seeds Gian van Veen and Dave Chisnall were also eliminated.

A record-breaking 14 seeds have already been eliminated from the tournament.