"Representing your country is a massive achievement" - Josh Rock full of confidence heading into World Cup of Darts debut for Northern Ireland

For the first time in his career, Josh Rock will represent Northern Ireland at the upcoming World Cup of Darts. And, after having made himself Northern Irish number one over the last year, 'Rocky' will also enter the nations event as team captain.

"I've been buzzing for ages. It's the one I've really been looking forward to this year," the 23-year-old from County Antrim tells Emma Paton on the Love the Darts podcast for Sky Sports. "Representing your country for the first time is obviously a massive achievement. But representing your country in general is a massive achievement so I'm really looking forward to it."

Alongside Rock in the Northern Irish camp at the 2024 World Cup of Darts, will be the vastly experienced Brendan Dolan, who keeps his run as a World Cup ever-present going after a fierce battle with compatriot Daryl Gurney over recent weeks and months for the second spot. "I'm very close with Brendan and I'm obviously, very close with Daryl so whoever my partner was going to be, it wasn't going to phase me at all," Rock says. "It turned out to be Brendan and me and him bounce off each other all the time. I really enjoy it with Brendan."

As mentioned, Dolan is one of the ever-presents in the history of the World Cup of Darts. In the past, Dolan has made his appearance at the nations tournament with three different compatriots. In 2010, he played alongside John MaGowan, while Mickey Mansell was his teammate from 2012 to 2015. From 2016 to 2023, Daryl Gurney teamed up with Dolan. Northern Ireland have not yet managed to reach the final at the World Cup of Darts. In 2012, 2015, 2021 and 2022, the quarter-finals were the finish line. In 2014 and 2016, the Northern Irish team made it to the semi-finals.

With the team of Rock and Dolan this time around, is 'Rocky' confident of giving Northern Ireland their best-ever World Cup performance? "I'm full of confidence after winning my first trophy on stage," Rock says, referring to his recent victory on the European Tour at the Dutch Darts Championship. "You never know. If me and Brendan click, we click. If we don't, we don't. We'll only find out when we step up on that stage together as a team."

The revamped format, which was successfully introduced last year, will return in 2024. The tournament will begin with a group stage before moving into a knockout phase. In addition, all matches will consist of pairings.

The four highest-placed countries, based on the lowest cumulative PDC Order of Merit ranking of the two participating players, are directly admitted to the knockout stage. These are England, the Netherlands, Wales and Scotland. The remaining 36 teams are split into 12 groups of three countries each. All group matches will be played on Thursday, June 27, and Friday, June 28. The group winner of each pool will advance to the last sixteen.

The second round, featuring the last remaining 16 countries, will compete for a spot in the quarterfinals on Saturday, June 29. These will take place on Sunday afternoon, June 30. The semifinals and finals are scheduled for Sunday evening.