Mensur Suljovic: It’s very special for me to beat the World champion

Austria’s Mensur Suljovic picked a huge win over Rob Cross to kick-off his Champions League of Darts defence in Brighton…

Mensur Suljovic kicked off the defence of his Champions League of Darts in spectacular fashion scoring a massive victory over World Darts champion Rob Cross on the Brighton stage.

The Austrian star pipped Cross at the post, taking out a double 8 finish to take an engrossing contest 10-8 on legs.

The win sees him top Group B for the time being, but it was seeing off the world champion that had The Gentle One smiling after the game.

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“I’m very happy, I just beat the World champion,” Suljovic said speaking to Paddy Power after the game.

“God help me, it was a very hard game!”

“It’s very special for me to beat the World Champion. It gives me more confidence heading into the rest of the tournament and the next game.”

It wasn’t the best of starts for Suljovic as he trailed 3-5 at one point, but he rattled off a double 8 checkout and followed with a crucial bullseye finish to head in at the mid-session break locked at 5-5 with Cross.

It was that leg that Suljovic felt was the vital one in his impressive opening victory.

“I started slow, but it’s all okay now.”

“The bullseye to make it 5-5 was nice, going in 6-4 down to Rob Cross wouldn’t have been good for me. It was a lovely 81 finish to go with that.”

“I hit a lot of 140s and I always practice them, not 180s, because that’s my game.”

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