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- Cross, the 2018 champion, looked dead and buried when Dobey went 4-0 up
- But he fought back to win 5-4 in a tense deciding leg to reach semi-finals
Rob Cross pulled off one of the most sensational comebacks ever seen at the World Darts Championship as he recovered from four sets down to stun Chris Dobey.
The Alexandra Palace crowd looked on in astonishment as Dobey’s game disintegrated when he was only one set away from a place in the semi-finals.
Cross, the 2018 champion, stormed back to win the next four sets before holding his nerve in a tense deciding set tie-break to complete his miracle 5-4 win.
Dobey hit 17 maximum 180s during the epic quarter-final and Cross 10.
Cross will take on the winner of the quarter-final between 16-year-old Luke Littler and Brendan Dolan later in the afternoon.
Rob Cross pulled off a miraculous comeback from four sets down to reach the semi-finals
Chris Dobey couldn’t quite believe what happened as he let slip a commanding lead
Cross had recovered from 8-2 down to defeat Dobey 11-9 in the 2022 Betfred World Matchplay in Blackpool.
Cross told Sky Sports afterwards: ‘Four-nil down, I’ve not really played I missed a couple of chances early and I didn’t feel like myself. But towards the end it was ‘push on, push on.’
‘It’s all about me and I still believed, even when I was 4-0 down. I had one of the greatest comebacks against Chris in the Matchplay, so might as well do it in the Worlds. I’ve got nerves of steel!’
Dobey took the confidence from his whitewash of reigning champion Michael Smith in the fourth round into this one and averaged well over 100 as he swept the opening four sets.
Cross wasn’t playing badly, averaging a touch over the century himself, and broke Dobey’s throw to take the fifth set and avoid an embarrassing whitewash.
That shifted the momentum and the crowd sensed something special was on the cards when he took the sixth and then the seventh sets.
Cross refused to give up despite his desperate situation at four sets down to storm back
Dobey was within touching distance of reaching the quarter-finals before his game collapsed
After levelling the match at 4-4, Cross took out 130 to break Dobey’s throw and go 2-0 up in the fifth.
But ‘Hollywood’ wasn’t quite finished yet and took both of the next two to force sudden death.
Cross wouldn’t be denied, however, and he took out 70 to wrap up one of the most remarkable victories seen on the famous Ally Pally oche.
