ROCKY IS HUNGRY TO WIN TITLES
11/03/2025 By Aaron Nijjar
By Aaron Nijjar
JOSH ROCK has revealed his UK Open semi-final run has given him the hunger to win more tournaments and a maiden major title.
‘Rocky’ reached the last four of a major for the first time in his career at the ‘Fa Cup of Darts’ in Butlins, Minehead.
In round five, Rock overcame Ross Smith 10-9 as both players remarkably averaged over 103.
The Antrim thrower averaged 99.92 and hit seven 180s as he came back from 4-0 down to defeat Rob Cross 10-6 in round six.
Former World Youth Champion Rock then secured an impressive 10-7 win over Nathan Aspinall in the quarter-final before being beaten 11-2 by James Wade.
Reflecting on his great run, Rock admitted he took positives from improving his record at the ranked televised event and it has given him belief that a major win is imminent.
He told talkSPORT: “First major semi-final. I felt like I played well the whole tournament.
“It was a long time coming. I felt like I should have had one before now. But I’ll take it on the chin.
“When it comes to the likes of playing a James Wade you need to learn to slow yourself down because that’s what he does to suit his own pace.
“I wasn’t disappointed to get beat. I was just disappointed with the scoreline. I don’t think it should have been 11-2.
“But I took positives from it. I improved my record at Minehead which wasn’t great before this year.
“It’s given me the hunger to win more titles and win a TV major because I know I’m capable of it.”
The 23-year-old also opened up on his close friendship with Luke Littler and revealed ‘The Nuke’ was gutted they did not face off in the final.
He said: “I think he was more disappointed than me. He wanted it to be me in the final.
“Me and Luke are very close friends off the oche. Whenever he comes into the practice room we are talking about football, darts and just life.
“It’s because we are in the same age bracket and we feel more comfortable with each other.”
Rock had a wonderful 2024 campaign winning his first EuroTour title and two Players Championship events.
Four-time ProTour event winner Rock returns to action today (Tuesday) at the Players Championship Five in Leicester.
Image by Taylor Lanning.
