JOSH ROCK has demanded a VENUE CHANGE at the Darts World Grand Prix ahead of the final.
The Antrim thrower was by on Thursday.
Josh Rock has spoken out about the venue for the World Grand Prix
Rock, 24, has competed in the previous two editions but has been left unimpressed by the crowd in Leicester.
The Grand Prix started out in Rochester in 1998 and also featured at the Citywest Hotel in Dublin between 2001 and 2019.
It moved to the 2,200-capacity Mattioli Arena in 2021 after a single year in Coventry.
Rock, however, has now demanded that the PDC make a change in the venue.
The Northern Irishman believes that the event struggled to sell out and that a venue should be chosen that will be filled to the brim.
He told the Metro : “I never experienced it when it was in Dublin, but I think the PDC need to change the venue because they don’t get the fans in Leicester at all.
“It’s meant to be a major.
“So I think maybe they need to find somewhere that they know they’re going to get the fans from Monday all the way to Sunday.
“That’s my opinion, they need to change the venue.”
The PDC have disputed these claims as more fans have attended this year than in 2024.
The Mattioli was at 70 per cent capacity for the first two nights last year, and this year it reached 90 per cent.
The tournament entrants have been whittled down to and .
The Nuke breezed past Jonny Clayton 5-1 in the semi-final last night, while Cool Hand beat Danny Noppert 5-3 to set up the showpiece final.
The winner between the two will bag themselves a cool £120,000 while the runner-up will have to settle for £60,000.
World Grand Prix winners
Here are the last ten winners of the tournament...
- 2015 – Robert Thornton
- 2016 – Michael van Gerwen
- 2017 – Daryl Gurney
- 2018 – Michael van Gerwen
- 2019 – Michael van Gerwen
- 2020 – Gerwyn Price
- 2021 – Jonny Clayton
- 2022 – Michael van Gerwen
- 2023 – Luke Humphries
- 2024 – Mike De Decker
It will be the SIXTH time the two Lukes have met in a major final.
Littler has even .
He said: “I definitely owe him one for the Premier League…
“But Luke’s had a very good record. He’s lost the last two and won one himself.
“But for myself, it’s all new pretty much. Same as last year in the Matchplay I lost the first round and went on to win it.
“Last year here I lost in the first round and now I’m in the final.
“I look forward to it very much. We’re both one and two so if we did win our games, we are going to meet in the final.
“Hopefully I can get the win tomorrow and I’m even more on his back for the No1 spot.”
