Lukeman stuns Cross to reach Grand Slam of Darts semis
Martin Lukeman is ranked 45th in the world
- Published
Martin Lukeman fought back from 5-1 down to stun former world champion Rob Cross and reach his first major semi-final with a 16-11 victory at the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton.
World number four Cross, who was runner-up in the tournament 12 months ago, dominated early on.
However, Lukeman won eight of the next nine legs to establish a 9-6 lead.
Cross responded with four of the following five to draw level at 10-10, before his fellow Englishman reeled off six of the remaining seven legs to set up a semi-final against Mickey Mansell on Sunday (13:00 GMT).
"It's a bit of a blur to be fair," Lukeman said on Sky Sports.
"I remember taking 144 out and had a few finishes on the bull, but apart from that I was just so concentrated, I was like, 'I'm doing this, I'm having a picture with my wife with the trophy on this stage, simple as that'."
Earlier on Friday, Northern Ireland's Mansell recovered from 4-0 down to defeat Scotland's Cameron Menzies 16-15 in a dramatic final-leg decider.