Broughshane’s Josh Rock claimed his third PDC ranking title of the year as he lifted the Players Championship 30 crown at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester, defeating long-time rival Jonny Clayton in a phenomenal decider.
The 23-year-old, who won Players Championship 17 in August, made it a sweet double with victory in the final Players Championship regular season event but Wales’ Clayton must also be commended for his role in a sensational Final.
Both players averaged over a ton, Rock’s 102.49 actually bettered by Clayton’s 106.38, but it was the Co Antrim man who held his nerve to triumph with an astounding 118 checkout in a nail-biting deciding leg to claim an 8-7 win and the £15,000 prize money.
It is a perfectly timed confidence boost for Rock ahead of the next Major, the Grand Slam of Darts which begins on November 9, while it has also confirmed he will be seventh seed for the Players Championship Finals, which begin on November 22 at Butlin’s Minehead Resort.
‘Rocky’ has been the epitome of consistency on the Players Championship circuit and was only denied a third title this year when he lost to Wesley Plaisier in the Final at PC28 two weeks ago, hitting a nine-darter on his way to the decider in Wigan.
But this time he would not be denied, the Dutch Championship winner seeing off Alexander Merkx, Karel Sedlacek, Jim Williams and 11-time Major winner James Wade on his way to the latter stages of the competition.
A hard-fought Quarter-Final would be won in an 11th-leg decider against the Netherlands’ Wessel Nijman, followed by a comfortable 7-3 victory over Ireland’s William O’Connor in the Semi-Finals to set up a Final meeting with Clayton, who defeated him in the Austrian Open Final last year.
And what would follow would be a masterclass in throwing from both players, who hit 11 180s between them – seven of which came from Rock – and a plethora of superb finishes to go along with it.
It didn’t look that way early on as Rock took the early initiative with a break of throw in the second leg as Clayton bust when going for six twice, and he broke again in the eighth leg to open up a buffer, but the ‘Ferret’ snuck back into the tie by reeling off the next four legs on the bounce, breaking twice to level it up at 6-6.
Rock would get back on track by holding his throw in the next leg and it looked like he was on for the win when he was down to double-figures with Clayton on 140, but the Welshman would take it out to go all the way, only for the Northern Irishman to hold his nerve and check out 118 for the win in leg 15.