{"id":22862,"date":"2026-06-18T01:58:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T01:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/22862\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T01:58:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T01:58:13","slug":"cross-claims-crown-former-world-champion-wins-players-championship-22","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/22862\/","title":{"rendered":"Cross Claims Crown: Former World Champion Wins Players Championship 22"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rob Cross has won the second of this week\u2019s PDC Players Championship events in Wigan. The 2018 World Champion overcame the challenge of Dutchman Maik Kuivenhoven \u2013 making his first final appearance \u2013 to claim his first Pro Tour darts title for 18 months.<\/p>\n

Voltage all but rubber-stamped his return to Blackpool\u2019s Winter Gardens after clinching Wednesday\u2019s Players Championship title at Robin Park, defeating Kuivenhoven 8-5 in the decider.<\/p>\n

For the Kent-born arrow-smith, it represented a long-awaited renaissance. Remarkably, it was Cross\u2019 first floor title since the opening day of last year\u2019s campaign at the very same venue, serving as a salutary reminder that when operating at full throttle, few players possess a more formidable arsenal than the 2018 PDC World Champion.<\/p>\n

Cross sauntered into the quarter-finals with scarcely a bead of perspiration, relinquishing just five legs while dispatching Dutch pair Danny Landman and Jimmy van Schie. He subsequently overcame compatriot Connor Scutt before breezing beyond Scotland\u2019s David Sharp with characteristic aplomb.<\/p>\n

Voltage then accounted for a third Netherlander in the shape of the highly impressive Alexander Merx. A scintillating semi-final triumph over Stephen Bunting followed, before Cross once again thwarted Dutch resistance by overcoming Kuivenhoven to capture the silverware. CRoss played at the highest level throughout the day, recording several 100+ averages and a 10 dart leg (140,180,149, 32f) to move three legs clear and lead 7-4 in the final\u2026<\/p>\n

DARTS PLAYER MERCHANDISE AND COLLECTABLES AT OUR DARTSWORLD STORE!<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Maik<\/p>\n

As for Maik, there is an abundance of encouragement to be gleaned from his exploits. The Dutchman reached his maiden Players Championship final and can reflect upon a thoroughly meritorious campaign. Having matched Cross stride for stride at 4-4, the vastly decorated Englishman shifted through the gears and surrendered only one further leg to secure the crown in emphatic fashion.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, considerable plaudits must be afforded to Tom Bissell, who registered his fourth semi-final appearance of the year. He may not yet be a household name, but in terms of week-to-week consistency, the Englishman is exhibiting a level of dependability synonymous with the sport\u2019s elite practitioners.<\/p>\n

Tommy Morris is another competitor quietly flourishing beneath the radar. Despite still being without a Tour Card, the Dorset thrower has enjoyed a splendid Challenge Tour campaign and has missed just one Players Championship event all season. His quarter-final berth on Wednesday represented his deepest run to date and further underlined his burgeoning credentials.<\/p>\n

MORE ELITE DARTS COVERAGE:\u00a0Check Out Our Devoted PDC Area<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, with only this weekend\u2019s Euro Tour event in Slovakia and one final double-header in Leicester remaining before the World Matchplay cut-off crystallises, the opening days of July promise anxiety, trepidation and no shortage of jangling nerves for those still clinging to Blackpool aspirations.<\/p>\n

2026 PDC Players Championship Darts<\/p>\n

QUARTER-FINALS<\/p>\n

Rob Cross 6-4 Alexander Merkx<\/p>\n

Stephen Bunting 6-4 Tommy Morris<\/p>\n

Tom Bissell 6-5 Gabriel Clemens<\/p>\n

Maik Kuivenhoven 6-3 Gian van Veen<\/p>\n

SEMI-FINALS<\/p>\n

Rob Cross 7-3 Stephen Bunting\u00a0<\/p>\n

Maik Kuivenhoven 7-6 Tom Bissell\u00a0<\/p>\n

FINAL<\/p>\n

Rob Cross 8-5 Maik Kuivenhoven<\/p>\n

Images: PDC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rob Cross has won the second of this week\u2019s PDC Players Championship events in Wigan. The 2018 World…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22863,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[6423,253,9402,6425,9403,1315,6426],"class_list":["post-22862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-players-championship","tag-darts-news","tag-featured","tag-maik-kuivenhoven","tag-pdc","tag-rob-cross","tag-the-players-championship","tag-winmau"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}