ROB CROSS is ready to put the bite into Luke Littler after getting his wisdom teeth removed!
The 2018 World Champion won the first Players Championship of the year on Monday just 48 hours after getting emergency dentistry.
Rob Cross had emergency surgery just hours before winning the first darts Players Championship of the yearSportsfile
Now Cross, 34, wants to extract even more pain on ‘The Nuke’ in the Premier League at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow on Thursday night.
He revealed: “I had to cancel a bit of work last weekend as I had a couple of wisdom teeth out Saturday, they’ve been giving me a bit of a jip.
“I don’t feel like my best at the minute, but I can’t really use that as an excuse, If anything it’s a distraction for me head, so I can actually play ball!
“I feel I’m getting better, I wouldn’t say my mouth’s 100 per cent at the minute, but look, if I can deliver that when I’m not 100 per cent, that’s just typical Bobby, innit.”
All eyes will be on Littler after his record-breaking run to the World title at the turn of the year.
The teen sensation, and defending PL champ, will be eager to get off the mark after his opening week defeat to Michael van Gerwen in Belfast.
Littler admits everyone raises their game to beat him but Cross doesn’t feel that will bother him.
He said: “You tell me over the last year how many problems the boy’s had? He’s not really had a lot, has he?
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“So I think you’d be naive to think that it’s going to affect him massively. He will have a target on his back now more so, obviously being World Champion. I think that’s a big thing in the game.
“But he’s still playing great. He showed that and I think he’ll carry on. Why not? The game’s in a good place, he’s still playing very well.
“He’s losing with big averages and sometimes you’ve just got to be patient and wait for the wins.”
Cross also believes in himself as he aims to build on last week’s solid start in Belfast where he reached the semis.
Voltage also won the Dutch Darts Masters three weeks ago, but was comfortably beaten in his last TV clash with Littler at last year’s Players Championship Finals.
He added: “I believe I can beat anyone on my day, but he was special that day. You’ve just got to enjoy it.”
List of all-time Darts World Champions
BELOW is a list of darts world champions by year.
The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions.
That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once – Barney also won four BDO titles – and none of Eric Bristow’s five BDO titles are included.
1994 – Dennis Priestley
1995 – Phil Taylor
1996 – Phil Taylor (2)
1997 – Phil Taylor (3)
1998 – Phil Taylor (4)
1999 – Phil Taylor (5)
2000 – Phil Taylor (6)
2001 – Phil Taylor (7)
2002 – Phil Taylor (8)
2003 – John Part
2004 – Phil Taylor (9)
2005 – Phil Taylor (10)
2006 – Phil Taylor (11)
2007 – Raymond van Barneveld
2008 – John Part (2)
2009 – Phil Taylor (12)
2010 – Phil Taylor (13)
2011 – Adrian Lewis
2012 – Adrian Lewis (2)
2013 – Phil Taylor (14)
2014 – Michael van Gerwen
2015 – Gary Anderson
2016 – Gary Anderson (2)
2017 – Michael van Gerwen (2)
2018 – Rob Cross
2019 – Michael van Gerwen (3)
2020 – Peter Wright
2021 – Gerwyn Price
2022 – Peter Wright (2)
2023 – Michael Smith
2024 – Luke Humphries
2025 – Luke Littler
Most World Titles
14 – Phil Taylor
3 – Michael van Gerwen
2 – John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright
1 – Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries, Luke Littler
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