In a dramatic night of darts at Belfast's SSE Arena, Josh Rock produced a perfect nine-dart leg during his Premier League debut in the city. According to the Belfast News Letter, Rock was trailing Dutchman Gian van Veen 5-1 when he achieved the feat. The nine-dart leg included two 180s, followed by treble 20, treble 19, and double 12.
Rock, who is 24 years old, was presented with a solid gold set of darts to commemorate the achievement, though the exact design and value of those darts remain unknown. The Belfast News Letter reports that Rock equated hitting the nine-dart finish on the SSE Arena stage to winning the World Championship. 'It's like I've won the World Championship, but I've hit a nine-darter in front of my home crowd, so that's just nuts,' Rock said.
' I said, 'yeah'. I'm just happy I lived up to my word. ' Rock's consistent performances have catapulted him to the upper echelons of the world rankings, according to BBC Sport, though his current specific ranking is not confirmed.
It's like I've won the World Championship, but I've hit a nine-darter in front of my home crowd, so that's just nuts.
He secured a maiden Premier League appearance this term, but BBC Sport notes that he sits bottom of the Premier League table without a point to date. Detailed statistics of his performance in the Premier League this season beyond points are not available. ' Rock also commented on Belfast's history with nine-darters, saying, 'I'm just happy that Belfast has the most nine-darters in the Premier League,' though the exact number of nine-darters hit in Belfast's Premier League history is unknown.
' Comparing it to his team success, Rock said, 'Winning the World Cup for Northern Ireland was even better than that but from an individual perspective that was unbelievable,' referencing his World Cup win for Northern Ireland as reported by the Belfast News Letter. Meanwhile, Stephen Bunting won the fourth night of the Premier League competition in Belfast, according to BBC Sport. Bunting, a former BDO world champion, defeated Gian Van Veen in the final with a 6-2 scoreline.
This victory secured his first points of the campaign. BBC Sport reports that it took Bunting nine weeks to score his first points in the 2025 Premier League edition. In his path to the final, Bunting defeated Luke Humphries 6-4 in the quarter-final and whitewashed Jonny Clayton 6-0 in the semi-finals.
Double-12 hasn't been good to me for the last, shall we say, six months, I was like, just go in, when the treble-19 went in, I was like, please (let the double-12) go in and I just went, bang and I could hold the celebration back in from of my home crowd.
' He added, 'This is going to live in my memory for a long time. ' Reflecting on his performance, Bunting said, 'I took a lot of experience out of last year when it took me a long time to get that first win. ' He also noted, 'I felt like I was playing really well.
The first two games obviously went the way I wanted them to go and then to just get over the line, it doesn't matter about the performance in the final,' and 'It took that pressure off [beating Luke Humphries in the quarter-final]. I knew the form was there, and how good I can be. ' He added, 'He is one of the best players in the world.
People need to get off his back. He was up against the ropes tonight and he pulled out a nine-darter, from nowhere.