Callan Rydz issued an emotional statement after his exit from the World Darts Championship and admitted his emotions have been “all over the place”. Rydz was beaten 4-1 by Josh Rock to miss out on a spot in the last 16 at Ally Pally. The two are good friends and Rydz continued to compete at Ally Pally despite the tragic death of his grandad during the tournament.
The world No.42 revealed the heartbreaking news just a day after reaching the third round. Rydz was visibly emotional on stage after beating Daryl Gurney then confirmed his grandad’s passing on social media the next day. The grieving Geordie admitted shortly after the win over Gurney he would even consider quitting darts when his loved one, who was battling illness, died and added: “I have a decision if I want to keep doing it. I play for my family. Everything I do is for them.”
And after losing to Rock to exit the competition, Rydz wrote on social media: “I didn’t wanna go down and play with how ave been feeling and under the circumstances I think I played well. Emotions running all over the place atm but that’s to be expected.
“Wanna say well done to Josh Rock, class on and off the oche. Wish him nothing but the best for the rest of the competition. Time to go back home and recharge the batteries and will see yous all in 2026.
“Thank you to my management Darting Promotions and sponsors The Vault Bar Tenerife and Crep Protect. Thank you again for the lovely messages ave received in this hard time. I appreciate everyone.”
Rydz was once again subjected to light-hearted chants about his hair throughout the latest World Championship, with fans chanting: “He’s got s*** hair but we don’t care, Callan, Callan Rydz!” But the 27-year-old finds the funny side of the matter.
Rydz reacted: “They can say what they say, I’ll not cry about it. I’ve had worse off loads of people back home. My best friends, they rip the mick out of us all the time. The crowd won me that game, I didn’t win it.
“I’m all for the banter – I can give it them just as much as they can give it me, if I meet them individually. I love the banter with them and I think they won me this game, I didn’t win it through darts, so I’ve got to thank them.”
Rock, ranked 11th in the world, showed his class with his comments to the press after beating Rydz. He said: “I want to send my condolences to the Rydz family. It was in the back of my mind because me and Callan are very good friends, but I had to put that aside and do a job. I’m very sorry for their loss.
“Yeah, it was [difficult]. I was probably one of the first people to text him because me and Callan are very good friends behind the scenes. I texted him to say I was sorry for his grandad. If I was in his shoes it’s going to be hard regardless.
“Because we’re friends it affected me more. If we weren’t close it probably wouldn’t have bothered me.” Rock has since exited the World Championship himself after losing 4-0 to Ally Pally’s unlikely new hero Justin Hood, who progresses to the quarter-finals.