Cross Set For Amazing Spin-Offs

Rob Cross (Lawrence Lustig, PDC)

ROB CROSS' remarkable success in the William Hill World Darts Championship is set to see the sport's newest superstar boosted with debuts in a number of events during 2018.

Cross soared into the world's top 32 inside his first year on the circuit, and entered the World Championship as the 20th seed.

However, his amazing triumph at Alexandra Palace, which earned the former electrician a £400,000 first prize, will also open a series of doors for Cross on the PDC circuit.

Cross' rise to third on the PDC Order of Merit has secured him a place in the Unibet Masters in Milton Keynes, where the top 16 will face off from January 26-28

The 27-year-old has also earned automatic selection for the Unibet Premier League, which begins in Dublin on February 1 and travels across the UK and Europe during the season.

As World Champion, the Hastings ace has also qualified for November's bwin Grand Slam of Darts, where he was a quarter-finalist in 2017 on his Wolverhampton debut.

In addition, Cross is also set to compete on the World Series of Darts circuit in 2018, in the Champions League of Darts, which features the world's top eight players competing live on BBC Sport, and for England at the Betway World Cup of Darts.

"It's been a phenomenal week," said Cross. "Winning the World Championship has changed my life, massively.

"I still believe that I can improve and I keep trying to change things and try and make myself better.

"My target has always been world number one; I want that. I know I'm going to have to work very hard for it [but] I've not had a bad start!"

Cross' life-changing week has seen the father-of-three achieve international fame following his Alexandra Palace success, which was also covered in depth by Sky Sports, BBC News and ITV News.

He also appeared on last Wednesday's "Good Morning Britain" show on ITV, whose host Ben Shephard watched Cross' quarter-final against Dimitri Van den Bergh at Alexandra Palace alongside fellow TV presenter Davina McCall.

Cross is set to receive an official reception at Hastings Town Hall to recognise his achievements on Tuesday January 9, and competed in Germany in a televised pro-celebrity event last weekend.