The trip that turned Rob Cross from pub player to world darts champion | Rob Smyth

In February 2016 Rob Cross drove the 170 miles from Hastings to Norwich – the trip was the first step on the journey that ended with him toppling Phil Taylor

On a good day, the drive from Hastings to Norwich takes around three and half hours. It is approximately 170 miles, most of which is spent on either the A11 or A12. It’s a route that has gone into darts folklore; the journey that turned Rob Cross from pub player to world champion in less than two years.

Cross’s awesome destruction of Phil Taylor in the PDC world championship final can be traced back to that trip in the early hours of Saturday 20 February 2016. He worked as an electrician and played darts occasionally, having given it up for three years in his early 20s to look after his family. He failed to qualify for the 2016 BDO world championship but decided to try the UK Open, described as the FA Cup of darts because of its accessibility to all.

Related: Rob Cross storms to PDC darts title to deny Phil Taylor fairytale finish

Related: Rob Cross beats Phil Taylor 7-2 to win PDC World Darts Championship – as it happened

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