CROSS COULDN’T TAKE TROPHY HOME!

By Phil Lanning

ROB CROSS admitted he nearly pulled a muscle trying to pick up latest darts trophy!

The World No.4 delivered a clinical last day of action and sealed Dutch Masters victory with an 8-5 final win over Stephen Bunting in Den Bosch.

Cross, 34, now has appeared in the second most amount of World Series events finals with 11 and the fourth highest win rate with five. 

But despite the glory, he couldn’t walk away with the trophy because it was too HEAVY!

He said: “It’s just amazing. There is one other trophy that is a bit heavier and that’s the Worlds. 

“I thought I was going to pull a muscle when I lifted it. I thought, don’t do it. It nearly slipped out of my hand. 

“It’s amazing to come here and win. We turn up and play all over the world. If you are not winning, it doesn’t mean anything. This is special.

“I don’t think I have room for it to take home. It might be about £120 for a new case. Anyone got a spare case? It is very heavy.”

The win was further proof of just how good Voltage can be but he is quick to admit that he’s just a big stage player.

He revealed: “I always say I can beat the best players in the world – but I can also lose to Mickey Mouse tomorrow morning.

“It is not a problem for me. It is making sure that TV-wise, I love the lights, I am a bit guilty of the ProTours, behind closed doors, it is a bit harder to get up for them. Every TV tournament I want to win and play well. You feel amazing when you pull it off. It’s a great platform for the year to see where I am. I will play better next week.”

Cross admits that it’s vital for him to get the right balance in the sport and he’ll never be a serial winner. 

He added: “I am not like your normal darts player, they can infuse themselves with darts all year round. 365 days a year. 

“I am not like that. If I get time off, I have separation from it. Family time. Other stuff. Do what I want to do. I appreciate when you do get those times, I value those three-and-a-half weeks. It can make you feel guilty for trying to pick yourself up in the meantime.

“If I have not put a lot in, and that is what I am guilty of, that is on my neck. If I have not put a lot in, can you go out and expect to achieve great things? Sometimes I have to play myself in to win. This week I wouldn’t have given myself a chance at the start of the week.”

Cross has got a great record in the World Series with wins in Australia, America, now Europe.

He added: “I thoroughly enjoy it, going round the world. Two years ago, I never got the Premier League. Matt Porter and I had a good chat in January. 

“I have never mentioned this. We had a discussion. He said, go on the World Series. Get yourself back. I have to admit it really helped me that chat. That is the greatness of the man. 

“For me, coming out to these places, doing all this stuff. You won’t grow the game much bigger in the Netherlands. We are already very established here. World-class players and champions. To come here and have that sort of surroundings with the World Series is truly amazing. Sometimes I wished I played like that on TV.”

Cross showed his class again in Den Bosch and he wants to get his schedule right to be a success. 

He added: “Sometimes I am more clinical at the back end of games, but I don’t hit as many 180s. I am hitting more at the minute. 

“They score better than me from a 250 or 201 mark, I have learned to excel there. I’d love to go out and be the next Luke Littler and hit all those 180s. It would make my game easier. I would be really good then.

“You man-manage your schedule. Being a professional. I have burned myself out before but it’s my only fault. There is a lot on the calendar, I cannot dispute that, but you have to man-manage yourself. 

“For the new guys, like me in my first year, it’s a harsh learning curve, you have to man-manage it. You might not get it right for a year or two. 

“But if you keep trying, you will get it right. You never play well if you feel burned out. I have a great team around me. I might feel fine but am stubborn and go, I might feel three weeks later the opposite. Then I might miss two weeks.

“You have to get on with it. Sometimes I am not always at my best but I still get result. No-one has a gun to their head. 

“It’s not a matter of life or death. Go out there and enjoy it, embrace it. You name me another sport, maybe football but there are 11 men on the field, where you get that individual going up on the stage, getting treated like that. It is truly amazing. 

“I cannot get that buzz anywhere in life. I shouldn’t tell my missus that. I have four kids. You have got me a divorce now!

“I had to break a sweat to win this one. I love the World Series. I am very fond to it. I enjoy going round the world. As much as we might all moan here and there about the flights, without it I would have an average job and be another person, who would carry on working the way I was. Very grateful to the game.”