Josh Rock continued to cement his place as a genuine contender to win the World Darts Championship on debut and warns the rest of the field that there is plenty more to come from him.
The 21-year-old faced a formidable foe in the last 32 against Nathan Aspinall on Tuesday afternoon and came through it, winning a dramatic contest 4-3.
The world youth champion was being touted as a possible winner at Alexandra Palace on his first trip to the biggest tournament in darts and he is proving that it was not just hype, having eased past Jose Justicia and Callan Rydz before downing world number 10 Aspinall.
His 95.62 average against The Asp was his best of the event so far, but he warns his future opponents that there is a lot, lot more to come from him.
‘Wow. I was under a lot of pressure there, I dealt with it well and I’m happy,’ Rock told Sky Sports after his huge win over Aspinall.
‘I’m already a world champ, well I’m a youth champ, I’m not a world champ yet. But I will bust my bum off to be a world champion.
‘I still haven’t played my game, there’s a lot more 180s than that game, my finishing was a lot better, but I’m just happy.
‘There’s a hell of a lot more to come when my game clicks. 95 average is alright, but it needs to click.’
Aspinall actually finished with a notably better average than Rock, on 98.19, but it was the Northern Irishman’s far superior finishing that did the job for him.
The new star also had the crowd on his side for the majority of the match, which he pointed out to his more experienced opponent mid-game.
‘I knew Nathan would be up for it, if you go by averages, Nathan played better than me but my finishing was a hell of a lot better and that’s what won me the game,’ said Rock.
‘It [the crowd] was fantastic, they were chanting my name a lot. To be fair the first set they were against Nathan and I said, “the crowd’s against you” that was my only words I spoke after the break. He said he knew, but it was up to him to deal with it and sadly he didn’t deal with it as I know he can, because he’s dealt with a crowd a lot of times.’
Rock will take on Jonny Clayton or Brendan Dolan in the last 16 and will hold no fears as his remarkable 2022 continues.
‘I’m trying my best to win it,’ he said. ‘Josh Rock is going to try and win this World Championship and we’ll see what happens.’
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