Luke Littler goes to have one other rival to cope with on the high.
{The teenager} was anticipated to be one of many stars of the present at this 12 months’s World Cup of Darts alongside Luke Humphries as they represented five-time champions England.
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However the famous person duo have been left in utter shock as they misplaced their second-round conflict in opposition to Germany 8-4.
England’s early exit flung the door open for a rival nation to grab their mantle as world champions and it was Northern Eire who did so in essentially the most thrilling of fashions.
The Northern Irish pairing of Daryl Gurney and 24-year-old Josh Rock squeezed previous Wales 10-9, with the victorious leg coming by way of a nail-biting sudden-death showdown.
Regardless of two-time main winner Gurney boasting way more expertise, it was World Cup rookie Rock who stole the present.
It was no extra evident than when he pinned 171 to go away Gurney with simply 16 to win within the sudden-death leg instantly after Worth scored a superb most.
Though Gurney hit his first effort at D8 north of the wire, he made no mistake together with his second as he and Rock shared a teary embrace.
Having witnessed Rock’s brilliance up shut and the way impactful he was in a high-pressure scenario, Gurney made a daring prediction about what’s in retailer for the 24-year-old.
“Josh has received the sport,” Gurney instructed talkSPORT Darts.
“The sky is the restrict. I believe Josh is greater than adequate to be within the Premier League. He’ll win a TV main quickly. I believe he received to a few quarter-finals, could not recover from that stage. Then this 12 months on the UK Open, he received over that stage.
“Typically it is child steps to make progress and I believe Josh goes the suitable method. Yearly he appears to get higher.
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“All people appears to neglect that that is solely his third 12 months taking part in on the PDC. He is nonetheless actually new to TV darts and look how properly he performed.
“So for me, we have got a famous person on our arms. The sky is the restrict. He can win all of the majors, he can win a world championship and he could possibly be taking part in within the Premier League subsequent 12 months, you by no means know.”
Rock made it to the fourth spherical of the World Championship on his match debut in 2023 and it stays his greatest run on the marquee occasion to this point.
However ‘Rocky’ has been in fantastic fettle this 12 months, profitable a PDC Gamers Championship occasion in Leicester in addition to having fun with a run to the semi-finals of the UK Open.
The 24-year-old additionally has reached the semi-finals at two PDC European Tour occasions, proving he’s lastly coming into his personal.
Maybe the very fact the highlight is on teenage famous person Littler slightly than Rock himself has been an element behind his resurgence.
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When Littler first burst onto the scene on the 2024 World Championships, two-time world champ Gary Anderson wished to media to go straightforward on the teenager as he claimed a similarly-harsh highlight had ‘completely destroyed’ Rock.
Rock noticed his fame skyrocket in his early 20s after he hit a televised nine-darter in opposition to Michael van Gerwen on the Grand Slam in November 2022.
However he struggled to keep up his success within the previous years, reaching only one quarter-final at a PDC ranked televised occasion throughout 2023 and 2024.
But with a World Cup now in his trophy cupboard, Rock might now have the springboard to lastly launch his profession.