Rob Cross wins World Darts Championship final after stunning Phil Taylor 7-2 at Alexandra Palace
Legend had no answer to the young pretender who was good value for his win
RED-HOT Rob Cross ended the fairy-tale run of the retiring Phil Taylor to become PDC world darts champion on his debut appearance.
The Hastings thrower, a 125-1 outsider when he joined the pro circuit last year, turned off The Power 7-2 in the final of the World Darts Championships at Ally Pally.
Cross, 27, who quit his job as an electrician in September 2016, ensured that Taylor would not enjoy a Hollywood ending to what has been an illustrious career.
If anything it feels as if Taylor, who dominated the sport for three decades, has now handed the baton over to a promising young Englishman, who has the world at his feet, and could rival world No1 Michael van Gerwen for years to come.
Taylor said: “Rob was like me 25 years ago. He was that good. He was relentless. That is the way I used to be.
“The sport has an animal on its hands. I like him, he has grit.
“The players next year have a big problem. Rob is dedicated and wants to win.
“It’s all about the winning, like I was.
“I was at the end of my career, he’s at the beginning. It was a mismatch.”
Taylor, 57, won just 10 legs of darts across the whole match, while Cross held his nerve and recorded an average of 107.67 to win a bumper payday of £400,000.
Cross is the 16th man across both PDC and BDO codes to reach a world final on his debut.
He said: “This is a life-changer, a fairytale for me and my family.
“I feel great. This is Phil’s last year and it was a dream to play him on that stage.
“I was born in 1990. He won his first world title the same year I took my first breath.
“I hope he has a happy retirement. There won’t be another sportsman like him.”
And there are freaky similarities between him and Taylor – The Power was also a 125-1 outsider when he beat his mentor Eric Bristow, aged 29, in the 1990 final, his first appearance at world level.
The ex-sparky had to show the same lack of respect and ruthlessness that Taylor did with Bristow 28 years ago at the start of his celebrated tenure at the oche.
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The key was whether Cross could cope with the emotion of such an electrified evening – especially as so many of the 2,500-plus crowd wanted Taylor to end with a bang.
Taylor won the bullseye back stage but conceded the throw to his opponent.
And that decision backfired as Cross took the opening set 3-1 in legs after Taylor surprisingly no-scored on 36.
It was a clinical start from the younger man and he maintained that in the second set, moving 2-0 ahead with a stunning 167 checkout – his highest finish of the championship – and a 111.12 set average.
Just when you thought Cross’s intensity would lessen, he took out the third set with a 153 finish.
A whitewash of Taylor was odds of 50-1 at the start but he ensured there would not be such embarrassment by taking the fourth set 3-0 in legs.
Phil Taylor reflects on a missed opportunityAs he went off for that TV break, he gave the middle finger to his manager Bob Glenn, a gesture for which he might be fined by the Darts Regulation Authority -- even though he probably doesn't care now he has quit.
Taylor was millimetres away from double 12 in the fifth set which would have given him his first nine-darter in the world championship.
It would have been an historic way to end his final match as a pro. But the emotion of missing that perfect leg perhaps played on Taylor’s feelings as he lost the next three legs to fall 4-1 behind.
Cross, in his first match with Taylor, comfortably went on to win the sixth and seventh sets.
And, while Taylor gained a small measure of respectability by taking the eight set, Cross secured the ninth with a 140 checkout – and a place in the record books.