DARTS sensation Josh Rock admits to being shocked at the amount of young fans he has across Ireland, but says he hopes to inspire the next generation of darting prodigies here.
The PDC World Cup winner with Northern Ireland was mobbed by excited fans at a launch in Dublin on Monday, all eager to catch a glimpse of a rising darts superstar.
Hundreds of fans queued for hours at the Intersport Elverys store in Fonthill, Dublin, to meet their hero, with Rock, who was joined at the launch by Cork's former World Masters champion, John O'Shea, shocked at the reception he got.
Amongst those to greet the star were Dublin pals Kaylem McDonald and Bobby Taylor, who are pictured above.
Rock told Darts In Ireland: "I'm looking around at all the people here and it's great to see, but I wasn't expecting it.
"It's important to give something back to the young fans and hopefully inspire them as we want to see more great young players coming through in Ireland."
Rock, who is now ranked inside the top ten in the PDC for the first time in his career, is still not counting his chickens when it comes to next year's Premier League.
The eight players who will compete in the 2026 PDC Premier League will be announced in January, and Rock, who is currently ninth in the rankings, doesn't think he has made it yet.
He reckons he will need either a great run at the PDC World Championships in December, or pull off a big win in another big competition.
"I'll have to do something special between now and then," he said.
Rock praised fellow young gun, Gian van Veen (23), for becoming the youngest ever European Champion on Sunday night when he defeated world number one Luke Humphries in the final in Germany.
He said it showed how the young players are more than a match for their more experienced opponents.
Rock added: "I wouldn't say it's just a young person's game now but the youths are coming through very strong.
"Gian did very well to win but that's the way darts is now, you don't know who is going to win any more."
Meanwhile, Rock said he hopes his PDC World Cup winning heroics can inspire the Northern Ireland football team to qualify for their first World Cup in 40 years.
Rock (24) and his World Cup of Darts winning partner Daryl Gurney (39) were given a reception at Windsor Park for Northern Ireland's recent qualifier with Germany.
The Broughshane man described that as "special" and said he now hopes to see the football team go on to emulate his success.
Despite a 1-0 defeat to Germany in that game, Michael O'Neill's team currently sit just three points off a play-off spot, with a crunch game in Slovakia in just over two weeks time.
Rock said: "It was absolutely fantastic to be part of that reception at Windsor Park and to get the chance to do it. It was special.
"Maybe what we achieved can spur them on as it would be great for Northern Ireland to make it to a World Cup for a change."
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