Rob Cross has beaten Tom Sykes 7-2 to reach the Slovak Darts Open final in Bratislava, putting the former world champion one win away from the first PDC European Tour title staged in Slovakia.
Cross had already produced one of the evening session’s clearest statements by defeating Nathan Aspinall 6-2 in the quarter-finals. He then backed that up in the semi-final against Sykes, who had earlier beaten Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 after coming through Cameron Menzies in the last 16.
The result was listed in the updated evening schedule by PDC Europe for the Slovak Darts Open, with Ross Smith and Wessel Nijman contesting the other semi-final.
Cross turns disrupted Slovak draw into title shot
The Bratislava event had already lost several headline names before Cross moved through the draw, with Michael van Gerwen, Stephen Bunting, Gerwyn Price and Gian van Veen all out before the semi-finals.
That left Cross with a clear chance to impose himself on the tournament, and his back-to-back wins over Aspinall and Sykes did exactly that. Sykes’ run remains one of the stories of the week, but Cross now has the platform that matters most: a final, a £35,000 winner’s prize and a live chance to sharpen his European Tour season.
