Strongman Tom Stoltman has issued a playful ultimatum to his friend Josh Rock, warning that if the Northern Irishman fails to win his Premier League Darts clash, he will be physically ejected from the building. Rock, in his debut Premier League campaign, sits eighth in the table without a nightly win, following a 6-3 defeat to Luke Littler in Aberdeen.
Stoltman, a two-time World's Strongest Man, revealed their friendship began through a shared support of Scottish club Rangers. “Through Rangers Football Club, we are both big fans of that. We’ve been messaging back and forth for a while,” Stoltman said. “He invited me down to Glasgow just recently, and I had some good fun with him over there. Then he invited me down to Aberdeen to chill out and go see him backstage. He is a really good guy. We go to the football together, and we are just really good friends now. He is a really good darts player as well, so that makes it even better.”
Stoltman has been offering encouragement, saying, “I’ve been giving him some back slaps. He needs to get his act together a wee bit! His first match against Luke Littler is going to be tough.” He added, “If anyone can do it, he can. I’ll be there supporting him in the crowd, and if he doesn’t win, he gets my hand around his neck and I will throw him out of the building for you.”
Inspired by Rock, Stoltman tried his hand at darts but found it challenging. “Throwing darts is hard. I have a setup at home and I don’t know how they do it. They make it look easy,” he said. “I hit ones and threes, then I am off the board. It is hard. Darts is a very skilful sport. It is like strongman, which is also a very skilful sport.” When asked to choose between lifting weights and throwing darts, Stoltman was unequivocal: “I would pick lifting weights over throwing darts and doing mathematics any day of the week.”
