Rock ousts Aspinall in decider to reach World Championship last 16

Rock - debuting at the Alexandra Palace event aged 21 - threw 13 180s and held a checkout hit rate of 42.42 per cent as he dispatched Aspinall, who has fallen in the third round for the second successive year.

"Wow! I was under a lot of pressure and I dealt with it well. I was just trying my best, it was a very tight game and I got there," he told Sky Sports afterwards.

"I am going to bust my bum to become world champion. I have kind of woke up, but now I am just happy. There is a lot more to come."

With Rock starting off proceedings, both players held well as a decider was forced in the opening set.

But the Northern Irish youngster held his nerve to get the scoring underway with a stellar 141 checkout, which would prove to be the highest in the match.

The second frame would possess less poise, though, with Aspinall taking advantage of some loose throws from Rock to level things up.

The momentum appeared to have shifted in favour of ‘The Asp’, who then took a 2-1 set lead. 

But the opposite would happen in set four with Aspinall losing his throw in the opening leg and Rock managing to hold to make it 2-2.

Rock would throw first in a fifth set packed with holds to lead 3-2, but a ruthless sixth from Aspinall would see things tied up once again with a decider beckoning.

A nervy seventh set would see Rock miss a set of darts to seal the match, but he would survive Aspinall’s onslaught to book an encounter against one of Jonny Clayton and Brendan Dolan.

Belgium's Dimitri van den Bergh also made it through to the next round with a 4-1 victory over Poland's Krzysztof Ratajski earlier in the day.