Darts star Josh Rock blamed the quality of soap in Antwerp, Belgium, after he lost a game to darting legend Michael van Gerwen.
Just like any other sport, there are plenty of factors that have to be right for any darts player to succeed. They’ve all got different types of darts that they like, with each dart differing in size, weight, and even grip that the players use. So, just following what the best players use might not work for everyone.
In the case of Josh Rock, a top ten player in the world, he had a different obstacle to overcome when he took on world number four Michael Van Gerwen – hand soap.
The Northern Irishman was beaten 6-2 by Van Gerwen, and blamed a pre-game visit to the toilet. “I went to the toilet just before I went on stage and obviously you wash your hands after going to the toilet, so I put the soap all over my hands and the next minute I’m up there, and I was like, ‘This isn’t going to go well’,” he told BBC Sport.
Darts star Josh Rock “couldn’t grip” because of soap
Rock said it was the “first time” something like that had happened to him, and he just couldn’t get a grip of his darts.
“That was the first time it’s happened. It must be just whatever soap was in the toilet at Antwerp that I used and it just obviously took all the oils out of my finger and lost all grip,” he added.
“I knew I couldn’t grip my hands, and no matter how much I was trying to lick my fingers, rub my finger up and down a barrel to get my fingers rough, it wasn’t working, so I just let that one go.”
Rock was unable to grip his darts because of soap
The darts star, who has won five professional tournaments and appeared in the fourth round of the world championships, said he “laughed” when he realised what had happened.
It isn’t the only bathroom mishap in sports recently, either. The Oshawa Generals, an ice hockey team from Canada, had to apologize to fans after telling them to shower before games. Fans turned up with bathrobes, shower caps, and even scrubbers to mock the team.
