Josh Lock blamed his pre-match trip to the toilet during last week’s Premier League game against Antwerp and plans to wash his hands with Belgian soap.
The Northern Irishman revealed he couldn’t grip the dart properly in his 6-2 loss to Michael van Gerwen in the quarter-finals on the second night of the weekly roadshow.
He said that the soap in the bathroom in his dressing room affected him, and he plans to carry chalk and wax in a case from now on to prevent it from happening again.
“I went to the bathroom right before I went on stage, and I put soap on my hands because obviously you wash your hands after you go to the bathroom, and the next thing you know, I was standing there thinking, ‘This isn’t going to work,'” Rock explained.
“I couldn’t feel it at all. So I had a plan B. I’m going to put some chalk and wax in the case from now on.”
“I didn’t have to use it at this week’s Players Championship and it was fine, but it’s probably because of the soap I used.
“I had never done anything like this before, it was definitely a first.
“I must have used the soap that was in the bathroom in Antwerp. It obviously took all the oil off my fingers and gave them no grip.”
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Josh Lock missed the lead with just a few miles to go before giving up a break to Michael van Gerwen in the Premier League quarter-final in Antwerp.
Lock were at least able to clear their minds of that episode to pick up their first points of the Premier League season in Glasgow on Thursday.
“I actually laughed right away because I knew what the problem was,” he said. “If I play like that and I don’t know what the problem is, obviously we have a problem.
“But I knew I couldn’t hold your hand. I tried to roughen up my fingers by licking them and rubbing them up and down, but nothing worked, so I just left them alone.”
Lock will face Luke Humphries in Glasgow in his debut match. A keen Rangers fan, who plays Celtic in the Europa League, he hopes to get the crowd on his side.
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Highlights of the final between Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price on the second night of Premier League darts in Antwerp.
“Luckily Celtic are playing in the Europa League tomorrow so I hope they’re all absent and it’s just the Rangers fans,” he added.
“I’m close to Scotland, literally a two-hour boat ride or a 10-minute seaplane ride, so I’d love to see that happen.
“It’s the day. If you show up, you win; if you don’t show up, you don’t win.”
In the other quarter-final, Luke Littler will take on Van Gerwen, Johnny Clayton will take on Jan van Veen and Gerwyn Price will take on Stephen Bunting.
Who will win this year’s Premier League Darts? Luke Humphries will defend his title and you can watch the match every Thursday on Sky Sports from February to May. Stream darts and other top sports now.
