By:
Joe Lyons
World number one Luke Humphries named Josh Rock alongside Luke Littler as the two players who will dominate darts for the foreseeable future.
Humphries overcame Rock 8-5 in the final of the Czech Open on Sunday night, successfully defending his title and landing the spoils for the third consecutive year.
“He’s what I call the new generation, him and Luke Littler are the two that are going to dominate the sport for many years but I’m going to be a part of as well I hope,” said the former world champion.
Rock is hitting a rich vein of form as of late, reaching a second final in as many weeks on the European Tour after narrowly losing out to Littler in the Flanders Darts Trophy.
The Northern Irishman is set to break into the top ten of darts’ world rankings for the first time in his career, with a spot in next year’s Premier League firmly on the cards.
Rock is currently the third-favourite to win the 2026 World Championship at 8/1 with darts betting sites, behind only Littler (13/10) and Humphries (9/2).
Earlier this year, Rock helped his country to a maiden World Cup of Darts title with partner Daryl Gurney – picking up a team prize of £80,000.
The 24-year-old beat some big names on his way to the final, notably Michael van Gerwen and Gian van Veen but fell short of landing a second European Tour title following success in the Dutch Darts Championship last year.
WATCH: ‘Rocky’ nails an impressive 153 checkout to draw alongside Humphries
153 FROM ROCKY!
Josh Rock keeps himself alive in this contest as the Northern Irishman pins the 153 checkout to draw level with Luke Humphries!
https://t.co/YyBPPwoMK8 #ET11 pic.twitter.com/UzubNqhLRw
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) September 7, 2025
Rock told the PDC: “It’s not every day you make back-to-back European Tour finals and I’ll get another title soon.
“I’m starting to be a proper dart player now and I’m looking forward to the rest of the year, so it’s on to the next one.”
The Antrim man burst onto the scene in 2022 when hitting a first televised nine-dart finish in the last 16 of the Grand Slam against Van Gerwen, going on to lose 10-8.
He made the semi-final of the World Matchplay earlier this year, going down 17-14 to Littler and his season is most definitely starting to flourish ahead of the business end.
Rock is an 8/1 chance with betting sites in Ireland to win the World Series of Darts Finals this month.
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