Rob Cross suddenly withdraws from Dutch Darts Championship with replacement named as Luke Littler follows through on threat

Former world number two Rob Cross has been forced to return to England and withdraw from the Dutch Darts Championship at the last minute.

The in-form darts star announced on Thursday night that he would not be taking part in the event, where he was due to play Ricardo Pietreczko or Heine Uuldriks in his first match on Saturday. Ireland's Brendan Dolan will take his place.

The 2018 World Darts Championship winner is expected to return for the European Championship in Dortmund next week. Cross is a two-time European Championship winner.

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Rob Cross has pulled out due to 'personal reasons'

The Dutch Darts Championship is the last European Tour event of the year and gets underway at Maastricht's MECC. Defending champion Jonny Clayton will play Damon Heta or Maikel Verberk in Saturday's second round, before the tournament concludes on Sunday.

Cross apologised for his absence, posting on Instagram: "I had just arrived in Maastricht. But unfortunately I’ve had to pull out of the tournament and return back home due to personal reasons. Apologies to the PDC Europe and all the fans."

'Voltage' is 22nd in the PDC World Rankings with earnings of £402,000. In his previous Dutch Darts Championship appearance, in 2022, he was knocked out in the second round by compatriot Ryan Meikle.

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Luke Littler is boycotting the championship over fan reception

The 2026 Dutch Darts Championship will also be devoid of the presence of world number one Luke Littler, who has repeatedly threatened to boycott events in the Netherlands over the response he receives from fans.

Littler is routinely booed and jeered in the Netherlands, where the frosty reception peaked at the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam.

'The Nuke' has missed events in Germany and the Netherlands, and pulled out of the Dutch Darts Championship to make good on his threat.

"If the Dutch stay like this, then I'm not going to do any Euro Tours over there," Littler said in September.

"There's just no point in me travelling, wasting my time whilst I'm getting booed. I just want to play my darts, obviously sign autographs and stuff. Because the past two nights I've done nothing. I've just walked off stage, not thanked anyone."

While several of his rivals on the tour have spoken out about the reception faced by Littler in Germany and the Netherlands in particular, others have suggested that his own persona on-stage is a catalyst.

The 19-year-old, who skipped two Players Championship events in Den Bosch in September, will have a chance to complete the extraordinary task of winning all 10 PDC premier events as a teenager if he makes a rare visit to Germany next week.

Littler has won everything but the European Championship, where he was knocked out in the round of 16 by James Wade last October.