{"id":319451,"date":"2026-02-27T04:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T04:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/319451\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T04:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T04:00:09","slug":"rock-raises-roof-with-stunning-belfast-nine-darter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/319451\/","title":{"rendered":"Rock raises roof with stunning Belfast nine-darter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stephen Bunting beat Gian van Veen 6-2 to claim victory on night four of the Premier League in Belfast, where Josh Rock sparked wild celebrations from his home crowd by hitting a nine-dart finish and Luke Littler’s struggles rumbled on.<\/p>\n

‘The Bullet\u2019 had not won any of his previous matches in this year\u2019s showpiece tournament, but got on the board after seeing off defending champion Luke Humphries in the quarter-finals before sweeping past Jonny Clayton 6-0 to book his spot in the final.<\/p>\n

Van Veen \u2013 who had reached the previous two nightly finals in his debut campaign \u2013 was a comfortable winner over Rock despite the Northern Irishman\u2019s perfect leg and then came through a close semi-final against Gerwyn Price which went the distance.<\/p>\n

NINE-DARTER FOR ROCK! \ud83d\udea8<\/p>\n

JOSH ROCK HAS HIT A NINE-DARTER IN BELFAST!<\/p>\n

The hometown hero pins the perfect leg to close the gap in this contest, what a moment for the man from County Antrim! \ud83d\udc4f<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa https:\/\/t.co\/LnNAPX0oQz<\/a>#PLDarts<\/a> | QF4 pic.twitter.com\/HZcnDEhFba<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) February 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Bunting, though, took control of the final after an early break and then again in the fifth leg to lead 5-1 before closing out an impressive night\u2019s work on double top.<\/p>\n

“Losing seven or eight (matches) on the spin last year really helped me to be honest,” Bunting said in his on-stage interview with Sky Sports.<\/p>\n

“It gave me a lot of experience in this field. When you are playing in the Premier League, it is against the best of the best.<\/p>\n

“I am overjoyed to be honest \u2013 this has got to rank up there with one of the best wins of my career.”<\/p>\n

\"Steve<\/p>\n

Clayton remains top of the table with 11 points, two ahead of Van Veen, while Bunting (above) moves up to fifth above Littler and Humphries with Rock bottom.<\/p>\n

In the opening quarter-final at the SSE Arena, world champion Littler had slipped to a 6-3 defeat against Clayton.<\/p>\n

Littler had won just one match in the first three weeks of the showpiece tournament and was hammered 6-1 by Clayton in the semi-finals last week in Glasgow, where he was handed a bye.<\/p>\n

Clayton landed a monster 156 checkout as he soon opened up a 3-0 lead against the world number one and then kept his composure to move 4-2 ahead with another break when Littler missed three darts at his favoured double 10.<\/p>\n

Littler, who won the season\u2019s first European Tour silverware in Krakow on Sunday, turned to gesture to the Belfast crowd to calm down as he took the eighth leg with a 112 finish.<\/p>\n

Clayton, though, went on to close out another impressive victory when he landed a 168 checkout and then pinned double four after Littler could not clear up from 124.<\/p>\n

Rock had then sparked delirium at the SSE Arena by hitting a nine-dart finish in the seventh leg of a 6-2 defeat to Gian van Veen.<\/p>\n

But the Antrim man (below) is still left waiting to get a victory on the board.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

“I honestly don\u2019t care if I never hit a nine-darter in my life again \u2013 to have it in Belfast has just made my life a dream come true,” said Rock, who was presented with a custom-made set of 18-carat gold darts, worth \u00a330,000, by tournament sponsors BetMGM.<\/p>\n

In the other quarter-final, Price fought back to beat Michael van Gerwen in a last-leg decider after the Dutchman \u2013 who missed out in Glasgow with illness \u2013 had looked in control when 5-3 up.<\/p>\n