Rob Cross beats Luke Littler – but can’t lift Grand Prix silver
Rob Cross defeated pre-tournament favourite Luke Littler on his way to the quarter-finals of darts' BoyleSports World Grand Prix in Leicester.
The world number four from St Leonards overcame Premier League champion and World Championship runner-up Littler by two sets to one in the first round of the Sky-televised event.
Cross took the opening set after a deciding leg and though he lost the second in similar fashion, recovered to clinch the third 3-1, sealing victory with an 88 checkout on the bullseye.
The 2018 world champion then saw off German thrower Martin Schindler 3-1 in round two to reach the last eight for the first time at a tournament played under the double-in format.
Cross raced through the opening set without dropping a leg. He then lost the second by the same 3-0 margin, but hit back to clinch the third and fourth.
The 34-year-old's run was halted, however, by a 3-2 defeat against Ryan Joyce in a closely-contested quarter-final.
Cross took the opening set only to lose the next two. He was 2-1 down in the fourth set and on the brink of defeat before winning back-to-back legs to force a deciding set.
Cross, who had outshots of 156 and 110, produced a 12-darter in the opening leg of the final set, yet lost the next three legs, missing two darts at a double in both of the last two.
Another local player, Ritchie Edhouse, lost 2-0 to a very much on-song world number six Jonny Clayton in round one on his Grand Prix debut, but is up to 39th in the world rankings.