Top Northern Ireland darts player Josh Rock has a rather unusual explanation for his disappointing performance in the Premier League Darts tournament at the AFAS Dome in Antwerp last week. According to Rock, it wasn't his form, but the soap in the Antwerp concert hall that caused the problem. ‘After washing my hands, I had no grip on my darts,’ complains the 24-year-old. The AFAS Dome is looking into how it can prevent any repeat of the problem in future.
Northern Irish darts player Josh Rock blames defeat in Antwerp on soap in Belgium: ‘Couldn't get a grip on the darts’
Colin Clapson
Published:
‘Just before my match, I went to the toilet backstage and, of course, you wash your hands afterwards,’ Rock begins his story on the Online Darts website. ‘I used quite a lot of soap.’ According to the Northern Irishman, it was precisely that soap in the Antwerp hall that played tricks on him during the match.
‘No grip at all’
‘The soap they use in Belgium apparently removes all the oil from your fingers,’ he explains. ‘I had no grip at all. Licking my fingers or rubbing them against wood to make them rougher didn't help. I could still laugh about it, because at least I knew the cause. If I had played like that without knowing the problem, I would have been really worried. It won't happen to me again."
Rock now insists there won’t be any repeat: ‘Now I have wax and talcum powder with me.’
Rock lost 6-2 to Dutchman Michael van Gerwen in the first round on the second night of the Premier League. That put the Northern Irish player in joint last place in the top darts competition for the time being.
Quizzed by VRT NEWS, the AFAS Dome said it is consulting with the tournament organisers, the Professional Darts Corporation, to prevent the problem in the future.