Darts ace Nathan lands first major title
STOCKPORT darts sensation Nathan Aspinall continued his meteoric rise to lift his first major televised title.
Aspinall said it was an ‘amazing’ feeling after clinching victory in the UK Open with an 11-5 win over former world champion Rob Cross.
The 27-year-old won a £100,000 prize for winning his first major final, with a 170 checkout, having defeated Toni Alcinas, Christian Kist, Madars Razma, Steve Lennon, Ross Smith and Gerwyn Price to reach the final at Butlins Minehead
‘Neither Rob nor I played like we can in the final but I’m just so happy to get the win’
Resort. The win took him into the top 16 of the PDC Order of Merit for the first time in his career and Aspinall said it shows ‘dreams can come true’.
“I look at Rob, he won the Worlds last year and I looked at him and thought ‘why can’t I do that?’,” he said.
“I was here as a fan with my grandad, watching the stage thinking I can be as good as those players.
“I’ve worked so hard over the last few years, dedicated so much time and to finally win one of these is an amazing feeling. I had a great world championship and I wanted to back that up. I’m so happy.”
Aspinall’s win makes him just the second player in PDC history to win a televised tournament with a maximum 170 finish and comes at the end of a life changing six months, starting when he won his first ProTour title in September, and including a run to the semi finals of the 2018/19 World Championships.
After his triumph, Aspinall headed straight over to celebrate with his family, hugging his grandad Alan.
“I want to thank my family because I’m away a lot, so this is for them, and I’d like to thank everyone for their support,” he said.
“The standard is so tough now. It was a long day for us both and neither Rob nor I played like we can in the final but I’m just so happy to get the win.”
Cross, 28, who was competing in his first televised ranking final since being crowned world champion in 2017/18, praised his competitor.
“Full credit to Nathan, he played well, but I had nothing left which is a great shame,” he said.
“This tournament was a massive start to my career in 2016 and it was great to play well here in front of this amazing crowd again.
“Unfortunately I came up just short in the final but take nothing away from Nathan, he was pure class all the way through.”
Aspinall is now preparing to compete in the Unibet Premier League on March 14, when he will take on Michael Smith at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham.