Champ Rob ‘damaged’

ROB CROSS will take to the oche in front of a record 12,000 crowd in Berlin tonight, admitting he was “damaged” by a four-week break after becoming world champion.

Cross faces Raymond van Barneveld in the Unibet Premier League and said: “I’m starting to get back to my old self now.

“After winning the world championship, I’d have kept the momentum going, if there had been a tournament the following week. But that four-week gap damaged me.

“It was like starting again, but it’s going to be massive in Berlin.”