Northern Irish darts player Josh Rock has offered a rather unusual explanation for his recent Premier League defeat in Antwerp, blaming it on the Belgian bathroom soap.
"It must be just whatever soap was in the toilet in Antwerp that I used," 24-year-old Rock said after the dramatic 6-2 quarter-final loss against a Dutch player, Michael van Gerwen.
Shortly before his walk-on, Rock used a backstage bathroom. "Obviously, you wash your hands after going to the toilet, so I put the soap all over my hands," he told the press after the tournament.
"The next minute I'm up there, and I was like, 'This isn't going to go well.' I just could not feel it at all," he added. Rock has seriously struggled on stage, recording a low average of 79.
Despite desperately trying to recover the grip mid-match, the damage was done.
"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 said that was "definitely" the first time it happened. "It just obviously took all the oils out of my finger and lost all grip."
He noted that the bizarre situation did not rattle him, since he knew what the issue was straight away. "If I played like that and didn't know what the problem was, then obviously we have an issue."
From now on, Rock has a 'plan B', carrying chalk and wax to make sure that won't happen again.
Despite a setback in Antwerp, Rock told the press he had enjoyed his debut league experience so far and was looking forward to continuing the Premier League season in Glasgow on Thursday.
"I'm close to Scotland, I’m literally a two-hour boat or a quick 10-minute flight over the water," he said, full of hope for the Glasgow crowd to get behind him as no Scottish players were competing in the Premier League Darts tournament this year.
