ROCK WINS PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP 10

By Aaron Nijjar  

JOSH ROCK won the Players Championship 10 after beating Cameron Menzies 8-4 in the final.  

‘Rocky’ has now won four Players Championship titles and has climbed up to world number 13 in the PDC Order of Merit.  

Former World Youth Champion Rock took the first break of throw in the final during the seventh leg of the contest against Menzies to edge 4-3 in front. 

The Antrim thrower hit a stellar 138 finish against Menzies to give himself a 6-3 lead. 

‘Cammy’ fired back smashing in a glorious 170 checkout to take the bout to 6-4.  

But Rock’s scoring overpowered the Scotsman as he averaged 95.56 and thumped in seven 180s to claim his fifth senior PDC title. 

Rock revealed he now wants to claim a maiden major title after his brilliant semi-final run at the UK Open last month. 

He said: “It was meant to be my day.  

“It feels fantastic to win. At the UK Open I had a great run, and I’ve had a couple of quarter-final runs on the ProTour, so it has been good.  

“I’m just thankful I can play darts. It’s my fifth PDC title but I still want to prove it in the majors.  

“I proved it at the UK Open but that is only one major.” 

The 23-year-old admitted he is not bothered about being a seed for the upcoming major tournaments. 

He added: “There is a lot to tick off the list but at the same time being a seed does not mean anything. 

“It’s whoever you play in front of you. The game of darts is going through the roof now.  

“I am not here for money I’m here to win titles.” 

Rock averaged a whopping 110.34 and hit a brilliant 150 checkout in a 6-1 demolition against Martin Schindler in the quarter-finals before seeing off Scott Williams 7-5 in the last four. 

Williams who reached the last four of a ProTour tournament for the first time since 2023 defeated World champion Luke Littler 6-4 in the last eight.  

World No. 39 Menzies edged out Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 in the quarter-finals, hitting 10 140s, with the Scot then defeating Michael Smith 7-5 to reach Tuesday’s final. 

Stephen Bunting showed glimpses of his best form ahead of Thursday night’s Premier League clash against Nathan Aspinall in Berlin.  

‘The Bullet’ averaged a remarkable 111.72 to beat Mike De Decker for a fifth successive match.  

Former Masters champion Bunting smashed in six out of eight doubles and hit a brilliant 167 on the way to achieving a 6-3 win but then lost in disappointing fashion to ‘Bully Boy’ 6-1 in the last eight. 

Image by Taylor Lanning.