Darts: Cross claims second PDC crown in three months

The world number eight from St Leonards won Players Championship 27 in Barnsley on Saturday, adding to his victory in Players Championship 24 during August.

Cross won seven matches across the single-day event, the last of which was an 8-4 success over world champion and world number one Peter Wright in the final.

The 2018 world champion said: "I'm enjoying spending time with my family, which is important. When the balance is right, I can be dangerous. Going forward, I think there's no limit to where I can go."

Cross had suffered first-round exits in Players Championship 25 and 26 the previous two days, but a 6-4 win over Jason Lowe got him up and running this time.

Having clinched the first four legs of that match, Cross then bagged the final four - all of them in 15 darts or fewer - to see off American thrower Danny Baggish 6-2 in round two.

The 32-year-old ended that game with an impressive 102.42 average and he topped that by registering 103.78 in his 6-4 third-round victory over 25th-ranked Brendan Dolan.

Cross took the last two legs to overcome George Killington by the same margin in the last 16 before dispatching 20th-ranked Stephen Bunting 6-2 in the quarter-finals with a 99.76 average.

The two-time European champion produced his best performance of the lot in the semi-finals, posting an outstanding 110.90 average in a 7-5 triumph over world number 24 Callan Rydz.

All 12 legs in that high-quality contest were won in 15 darts or fewer and Cross, who bagged five straight legs to lead 5-1 at one stage, wrapped things up with an 11-darter.

Cross then trailed 3-2 in the final before reeling off six of the subsequent seven legs, including five in a row once more, to claim the spoils.

It was an exhibition of finishing from Cross, who produced checkouts of 164, 160 and 143 as he avenged a defeat by Wright in the previous weekend's Gibraltar Darts Open semi-finals.

He added: "It's funny because I was saying to my manager recently that I felt the only part of my game that's been missing of late has been my big finishing.

"In the semi-finals I had to be at my best to get past Callan Rydz; he's got a lot of bottle."

Cross, who was due to begin his European Championship title defence last night (Thursday), went on to reach round three of Players Championship 28 on Sunday.

He beat Brian Raman 6-2 and Ron Meulenkamp 6-4, averaging 102.42 and hitting a 10-darter against the latter, before seeing a 3-2 lead turn into a 6-3 loss against Jim Williams.