Josh Rock won't consider himself in darts 'elite' until he proves one thing as he shows class in World Series triumph
Northern Irish star was a blur as he took apart Danny Noppert on his own soil and surged into the last eight in just 10 minutes
Rapid-fire Josh Rock took just 10 minutes to wipe away Dutch star Danny Noppert at the World Series Finals.
But the high-flying Northern Irishman insists he’ll never consider himself an elite star until he bursts onto the Premier League scene.
Rock’s scintillating recent form continued with a quite blistering demolition of the home star. The World Cup winner needed just 10 minutes and 20 seconds to destroy Noppert 6-0 in an eye-blurring Amsterdam blitz.
Rock admits he didn't think he was going to finish the job at that pace and was also surprised at the fact HE was the one getting the backing from the crowd despite being in the backyard of his opponent.
He said: “They [darts] just went in, they just felt great up there and I put them in the right place.
"I’m not the person to give myself praise, but when I walked off that stage, I went: 'Oh, you played well there.' I knew the timing and everything, it was all going to plan.
“I wasn’t expecting it to be 10 minutes. I was going out there with the mentality knowing that the crowd was going to be against me and it was the complete opposite, from as soon as I walked on the walk-on, the crowd were with me the whole time, which I was really surprised about. So I think that might have took a wee bit of pressure off me.
“I think they actually wanted me to win, which is weird, obviously, in Holland, when you’re playing someone from Holland.”
Rock has been climbing the ranks impressively in recent times with a run to the Final of the World Matchplay coming on his World Cup win alongside team-mate Daryl Gurney.
The 24-year-old also got to the Finals of the last two World Series events in Belgium and Prague and has a simple reason for the improvement as he said: “It’s down to the equipment and obviously the confidence and the experience, too.”
Rock, though, refuses to consider himself as one of the cream at this stage until he does one thing to prove it to himself.
He said: “Until I get into the Premier League, I’ll never class myself as an elite player.”
Rock believes the win with Gurney in the middle of the summer has been the catalyst for his recent spring and continued: “Of course, it was a big confidence boost, it was the first TV title.
"Obviously it’s joint, but when you do that on TV, and done what I done at the World Cup, it gives you massive confidence.”
He now faces Belgium’s Mike De Decker in the last eight and said: “I wouldn’t class myself as a favourite, or him as a favourite. It’s just whoever has the better darts on the day, and we’ll see who wins.”