WARRINGTON’S Luke Littler endured a below-par day as he suffered another early exit as Josh Rock secured the Players Championship 10 title on Tuesday.
The teenage World Champion could only hit the heights of 97.82 as he went out 6-4 to Scott Williams, who averaged 86, in their quarter-final showdown in Leicester.
Rock, meanwhile, defeated Williams 7-5 in the semi-finals, before beating Cameron Menzies 8-4 in the final for his first PDC title of 2025 and fourth ever Players Championship one.
“It was probably my scoring right throughout the day. I felt like I had important checkouts at the right times. When it comes to three darts for a checkout, I’ve been hitting the ton-plus checkouts, thankfully,” Rock said after victory.
“It feels absolutely fantastic. I’m racking them up [PDC titles]. It’s my fifth on the PDC Tour, but I still want to prove it at the majors.
“There’s a lot to tick off the list. Being a seed doesn’t mean anything, it’s whoever you play in front of you. The game of darts has gone through the roof. I’m not here for money, I’m here to win titles.”
Meanwhile, Littler beat Adam Lipscombe and Dimitri Van den Bergh both by a 6-3 scoreline, and then came through against Jim Williams 6-4 and Justin Hood 6-2 before bowing out to Boston star Williams, who averaged 86, in the last eight.
Williams reached the last four of a ProTour tournament for the first time since 2023, but bowed out to a red-hot Josh Rock, who averaged a whopping 110.34 and hit a brilliant 150 checkout in a 6-1 demolition against Martin Schindler before seeing off Williams 7-5.
The Premier League continues at the Uber Arena, Berlin on Thursday, April 3 as Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price clash in a titanic quarter-final encounter, while Luke Littler takes on Chris Dobey.
