Josh Rock romps to Players Championship 10 title

Josh Rock clinched his fifth PDC ranking title at Players Championship 10 courtesy of an 8-4 victory over Cameron Menzies in the final in Leicester on Tuesday.

Rock, whose first ProTour title came in 2022 before adding a further three ranking titles last year, opened his account for 2025 following a series of superb displays at the Mattioli Arena.

The Northern Irishman produced a pair of ton-plus averages on his way to securing the £15,000 top prize – which sees him climb three places to a career-high 13th in the Order of Merit.

“I hit important checkouts at the right times today,” said Rock. “It was meant to be my day.

“At the UK Open I had a fantastic run, and a quarter-final run yesterday.

“It’s my fifth title in the PDC, but obviously I still want to prove it in the majors.”

Rock began his title charge with a 6-3 win over compatriot Nathan Rafferty, before averaging 100.8 in a 6-2 success over Dom Taylor.

He then saw off Swiss star Stefan Bellmont 6-4, before thrashing Ricardo Pietreczko 6-1 in the Last 16.

Rock’s best performance of the day came in the quarter-finals as he swept aside Martin Schindler 6-1 with a 110.3 average, before recovering from 5-4 down with three consecutive legs to deny his practice partner Scott Williams in the semi-finals.

The opening four legs of the final were shared, before Menzies claimed a scrappy fifth leg to move 3-2 in front.

Rock, however, hit back with a run of four straight legs, including a clinical 137 checkout, to turn the game on its head at 6-3.

Menzies stopped the rot in sensational fashion by landing a 170 checkout in leg ten, but only for Rock to break back immediately with a 13-darter, before holding throw in the following leg to clinch the title on double 16.

Menzies was featuring in his fourth Players Championship final since August and started the day by edging out Scottish compatriot Alan Soutar in a deciding leg after surviving a match dart.

The enigmatic Scot went on to defeat Darren Beveridge, Gabriel Clemens, Kevin Doets, and Raymond van Barneveld, before ending the resurgent run of Michael Smith with a 7-5 success in the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, Gary Anderson registered a blistering 111.8 average in his 6-1 demolition of James Wade in Round Three, the highest of the day.

Stephen Bunting averaged 111.7 in his 6-3 Last 16 win over World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker before eventually losing out to Michael Smith in the quarter-finals.

Monday’s winner Gerwyn Price suffered a shock First Round exit at the hands of Ireland’s Dylan Slevin, while Scott Williams pulled off a 6-4 win over World Champion Luke Littler in the quarter-finals before losing out to Rock in the following round.

Players Championship 10 Results

Tuesday April 1

First Round
Kevin Doets 6-1 Viktor Tingstrom
Tavis Dudeney 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Max Hopp 6-2 Dave Chisnall
Berry van Peer 6-3 Dominik Gruellich
Gabriel Clemens 6-1 Wessel Nijman
Rob Owen 6-4 Andy Baetens
Cameron Menzies 6-5 Alan Soutar
Darren Beveridge 6-5 Danny Lauby
Kevin Burness 6-4 Luke Woodhouse
Ryan Meikle 6-2 Marvin van Velzen
Gian van Veen 6-3 Ted Evetts
Brendan Dolan 6-2 Ricky Evans
Raymond van Barneveld 6-1 Kim Huybrechts
Adam Hunt 6-1 Thibault Tricole
Damon Heta 6-2 Joshua Richardson
Nick Kenny 6-3 Jitse Van der Wal
Bradley Brooks 6-3 Ryan Joyce
Callan Rydz 6-2 Dennie Olde Kalter
Stephen Bunting 6-0 Richard Veenstra
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 6-1 Karel Sedlacek
Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 Brett Claydon
Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Jelle Klaasen
Mike De Decker 6-3 Rhys Griffin
Patrick Geeraets 6-4 Wesley Plaisier
Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Leon Weber
Connor Scutt 6-5 Benjamin Reus
Chris Dobey 6-4 Lukas Wenig
Cor Dekker 6-5 Jeffrey De Graaf
Michael Smith 6-4 Michele Turetta
Darius Labanauskas 6-2 Krzysztof Ratajski
Dylan Slevin 6-4 Gerwyn Price
Cam Crabtree 6-0 Robert Grundy
Madars Razma 6-2 Florian Hempel
Jim Williams 6-2 Niko Springer
Luke Littler 6-3 Adam Lipscombe
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-0 Jose De Sousa
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Christian Kist
Justin Hood 6-4 Owen Bates
Rob Cross 6-1 Adam Paxton
William O’Connor 6-4 Ian White
Peter Wright 6-0 Jim Long
Chris Landman 6-2 Martijn Dragt
Scott Williams 6-5 Ross Smith
James Hurrell 6-4 Greg Ritchie
Oskar Lukasiak 6-2 Andrew Gilding
Matthew Dennant 6-3 Radek Szaganski
Danny Noppert 6-1 Maximilian Czerwinski
Haupai Puha 6-4 Tytus Kanik
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-5 Thomas Lovely
Andy Boulton 6-4 Maik Kuivenhoven
Martin Schindler 6-3 Stefaan Henderyck
Matt Campbell 6-2 Carl Sneyd
James Wade 6-3 Keane Barry
Martin Lukeman 6-5 Mickey Mansell
Gary Anderson 6-1 George Killington
Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Pero Ljubic
Stefan Bellmont 6-4 Nathan Aspinall
Stephen Burton 6-4 Adam Warner
Josh Rock 6-3 Nathan Rafferty
Dom Taylor 6-3 Tom Bissell
Joe Cullen 6-4 Darryl Pilgrim
Steve Lennon 6-4 Sebastian Bialecki
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-4 Jonny Clayton
Scott Campbell 6-3 Adam Mould

Second Round
Kevin Doets 6-1 Tavis Dudeney
Berry van Peer 6-3 Max Hopp
Gabriel Clemens 6-1 Rob Owen
Cameron Menzies 6-4 Darren Beveridge
Kevin Burness 6-2 Ryan Meikle
Brendan Dolan 6-4 Gian van Veen
Raymond van Barneveld 6-0 Adam Hunt
Damon Heta 6-0 Nick Kenny
Callan Rydz 6-2 Bradley Brooks
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 Niels Zonneveld
Mike De Decker 6-1 Patrick Geeraets
Connor Scutt 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Chris Dobey 6-1 Cor Dekker
Michael Smith 6-3 Darius Labanauskas
Cam Crabtree 6-5 Dylan Slevin
Jim Williams 6-4 Madars Razma
Luke Littler 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Justin Hood 6-3 Daryl Gurney
William O’Connor 6-4 Rob Cross
Chris Landman 6-2 Peter Wright
Scott Williams 6-3 James Hurrell
Matthew Dennant 6-1 Oskar Lukasiak
Danny Noppert 6-5 Haupai Puha
Andy Boulton 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Martin Schindler 6-3 Matt Campbell
James Wade 6-2 Martin Lukeman
Gary Anderson 6-4 Mensur Suljovic
Stefan Bellmont 6-5 Stephen Burton
Josh Rock 6-2 Dom Taylor
Steve Lennon 6-3 Joe Cullen
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-5 Scott Campbell

Last 32
Kevin Doets 6-4 Berry van Peer
Cameron Menzies 6-5 Gabriel Clemens
Kevin Burness 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Damon Heta
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Callan Rydz
Mike De Decker 6-3 Ritchie Edhouse
Connor Scutt 6-2 Chris Dobey
Michael Smith 6-2 Cam Crabtree
Luke Littler 6-4 Jim Williams
Justin Hood 6-3 William O’Connor
Scott Williams 6-5 Chris Landman
Matthew Dennant 6-5 Danny Noppert
Martin Schindler 6-3 Andy Boulton
Gary Anderson 6-1 James Wade
Josh Rock 6-4 Stefan Bellmont
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-4 Steve Lennon

Last 16
Cameron Menzies 6-3 Kevin Doets
Raymond van Barneveld 6-1 Kevin Burness
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Mike De Decker
Michael Smith 6-4 Connor Scutt
Luke Littler 6-2 Justin Hood
Scott Williams 6-5 Matthew Dennant
Martin Schindler 6-5 Gary Anderson
Josh Rock 6-1 Ricardo Pietreczko

Quarter-Finals
Cameron Menzies 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Michael Smith 6-1 Stephen Bunting
Scott Williams 6-4 Luke Littler
Josh Rock 6-1 Martin Schindler

Semi-Finals
Cameron Menzies 7-5 Michael Smith
Josh Rock 7-5 Scott Williams

Final
Josh Rock 8-4 Cameron Menzies