Josh Rock punched his ticket into the quarter-finals of the Betfred World Matchplay with an 11-6 win over an off-colour Stephen Bunting at the Winter Gardens on Tuesday night, though it was far from a vintage display from either man.
Both players struggled to hit their usual heights, averaging in the low 70s during the opening session. Rock looked visibly frustrated with his own scoring early on, but dug in to reel off four legs in a row to move 7-4 clear.
From there, he kept Bunting at arm’s length, eventually wrapping up victory with a sensational 140 checkout.The win means a repeat of one of last year’s most memorable matches.
Rock will now face Luke Littler in the last eight, having met in a sensational 17-14 semi-final at the same venue in 2025. Rock was left visibly emotional as he sealed victory over the Englishman, admitting facing Bunting had been emotionally draining.
“Stephen’s one of my best friends from the tour. When I played the Premier League it was always me and him,” speaking to Sky Sports.
“But obviously playing the Major, it was a big thing for me so it was difficult, I had to change my mindset and obviously I’d done it with celebrating and I apologised to him for that, but I know I had to change something to try and get through this game.”
For Bunting, it’s a disappointing end to a run that had already asked plenty of questions: the world number nine needed a dramatic sudden-death scenario to see off Niels Zonneveld in round one after the Dutchman missed three match darts against him.
Though the tank appeared to run dry a round later against a battling Rock.
The Northern Irishman will face the reigning World Champion in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
Images: PDC / Taylor Lanning
