Rob Cross hit the second nine-darter of the night. (Image: SKY SPORTS)
Rob Cross sent the Brighton crowd into a frenzy by hitting the second nine-darter of the night in an incredible week of Premier League Darts. A couple of hours after Voltage was on the receiving end of Luke Humphries’ perfect leg, he produced one of his own during his semi-final clash against Nathan Aspinall.
You could say Premier League nine-darters are like London buses. None of the players had managed to hit one across the opening four nights of the competition. The last was courtesy of Luke Littler in last year’s O2 Arena final against Humphries. But Cool Hand became the 11th player to achieve the feat on a Premier League stage in the second leg of his match against Cross.
It ultimately counted for nothing in terms of the competition, with Cross going on to win the match 6-4 to set up a semi-final meeting with Aspinall.
The 34-year-old then produced the goods himself against The Asp to move 4-2 ahead in their encounter, sparking an explosion of delighted spectators at the Brighton Centre.
However, history repeated itself after Aspinall fought back to clinch a 6-5 victory, booking an attractive final against Luke Littler, who beat Chris Dobey and Michael van Gerwen earlier in the night.
The Premier League Darts’ title sponsor, BetMGM, will have been left sweating after Humphries threw an early nine-darter.
That’s because, at the start of the tournament, the betting organisation announced that any player who pulled one off across the 17 weeks would receive a special set of gold darts.
Humphries became the first player to take home the 18-karat arrows worth approximately an eye-watering £30,000.
But Cross’ achievement will see BetMGM forking out for another set, setting them back a staggering £60,000 in one night.
While neither player could win the night, which comes with a £15,000 prize, the unique reward for their exploits on the oche will undoubtedly serve as a satisfying consolation.
After his nine-darter against Cross, Humphries expressed his delight at becoming the owner of the luxury set of darts, insisting it beat pocketing £30,000.
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