Champion Cross is on the march

Defending champion Rob Cross moved a step closer to retaining his PDC World Darts Championship title with a comprehensive win over Cristo Reyes last night.

The 28-year-old from Pembury reached the last 16 by demolishing his Spanish opponent 4-0, winning with an average of 101.72 and rattling in five 180s.

He told Sky Sports: “I feel brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Everyone wants to get past Christmas and then come back and win it.”

Former double world champion Adrian Lewis also made short work of his third-round opponent, Darius Labanauskas.

Lewis, seeded 16, took less than 35 minutes to see off the Lithuanian, who had previously knocked out Raymond Van Barneveld.

A 12-dart leg sealed the third set 3-1 and another 12-darter in the last leg of the fourth saw him take it 3-1 to seal a 4-0 win.

Nathan Aspinall continued his dream debut run with a resounding victory over Australia’s Kyle Anderson.

Four 100-plus checkouts helped the 27-year-old from Stockport to a 4-1 victory.

Earlier, ninth seed James Wade produced a fine comeback to beat Keegan Brown 4-3.

Englishman Wade, who apologised for his unsavoury actions in his last match against Japanese opponent Seigo Asada, endured a hostile reception from large sections of the crowd.

Brown took a 3-1 lead but Wade eventually found his range to win the tie.

Seeded Mervyn King fell in round three, beaten 4-2 by Northern Ireland’s Brendan Dolan.

In yesterday’s early match, Chris Dobey battled through 4-3 against Vincent Van der Voort.

Rob Cross: Easy 4-0 win last night.