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, 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.
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.
RUDE AWAKENING World Darts Championship final: Phil Taylor aims middle finger at crowd
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.
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