Underdog Justin Hood delivered an extraordinary performance in the last 16 of the PDC World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace, setting a new record by hitting 11 consecutive doubles. The 32-year-old debutant from Bath powered past 11th seed Josh Rock with a commanding 4-0 victory.
Hood, competing in his first PDC tour season, missed his first double only when he was poised to close out the match at 2-0 in the fourth set. He then secured the win impressively with a 119 checkout in the very next leg, ensuring a career-best prize of at least £100,000. This milestone brings him a step closer to his ambition of opening a Chinese restaurant.
Reflecting on his remarkable run during the post-match interview, Hood said, “It’s not a fairytale – I know what I can do and it’s nice to prove it up there. The only time I felt nerves was right before the last leg. I’m not used to this kind of attention. I usually get hate messages. This is mad.”
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Hood set the tone early, breaking throw in the first set with an 11-dart leg. Throughout the match, he maintained a staggering average of 101 and landed ten 180s, leaving Rock stunned by his precision and composure.
In other last-16 action, Jonny Clayton confirmed his surge to world number four by recovering from a set down to overcome Sweden’s Andreas Harrysson 4-3. Harrysson’s missed opportunities, including four darts to regain the lead at 3-2, proved costly.
Clayton commented after the match, “There’s a lot on my mind, and moving to world number four was one of them. Andreas was hitting doubles whenever I looked up, and I didn’t play my best—lots of loose darts. That’s the pressure.”
Meanwhile, Krzysztof Ratajski advanced to the quarter-finals by defeating Luke Woodhouse 4-2, rounding out an electrifying stage of the championship.