Josh Rock reached the quarter-finals of the UK Open Darts Championship with a 10–7 win over Stephen Bunting, but the Northern Irishman was quick to admit his performance was far from his best. "Obviously I'm delighted," Rock said after the match. "I'm in the quarter-final of the UK Open. But I think me and Bunting looked very tired up there. We didn't perform the way we can."
Rock described the contest as "a struggle from start to finish" and a "strange game," attributing the quality to fatigue and the UK Open's unique draw format. "It's a long day when you're on at half-past two," he explained. "Then you've got quite a few hours to wait and then you're on again. And you don't know when you're playing because of the way the draw is." He detailed erratic scoring patterns: "He'd hit a 180 and then go 60 and 66. Then I'd hit 177 and go 60, 59 and 68. It just felt like very tiring darts."
The 23-year-old is also adjusting to his first season in Premier League Darts, where his start has been difficult, including a recent defeat to teenage star Luke Littler. "It's just been quite unfortunate, especially last week against Luke," he said. "But the win's going to come." Rock added, "It's brand new for me. Obviously we're getting used to it. Gian has maybe got used to it quicker than me. But I'm still enjoying the Premier League."
Rock also spoke about his bond with John O'Shea, who has been supporting him recently. "Well, it's not helping currently, does it?" he joked. "The bond me and Jon O'Shea have is obviously fantastic. There's a lot of sense there that no-one really realises, so I've spent a lot of time learning from him." Looking ahead, Rock faces Krzysztof Ratajski in the quarter-finals and hopes a night's rest will help. "It just felt very tiring," he said. "So I'll get a good night's sleep and hopefully it helps for tomorrow."
