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1 month ago
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The underdog Justin Hood reeled off a record 11 consecutive doubles en route to a stunning 4-0 win over Josh Rock in the last 16 of the PDC World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace.
The 32-year-old debutant continued his stunning run in the tournament and missed his first double when he threw for the match at 2-0 up in the fourth set. He stepped back to take out the match on a 119 finish in the following leg, guaranteeing a career-best payday of at least £100,000 and taking him closer to his dream of opening a Chinese restaurant.
Hood, playing his first season on the PDC tour, said in his on-stage interview: “It’s not a fairytale – I know what I can do and it’s nice to prove it up there. The only time I had a bit of nerves was when I was throwing the leg before [the last one]. I’m not used to this. I usually get hate messages. This is mad.”
Hood set the tone for the tie when he won the first set with an 11-dart break of throw, leaving Rock, the 11th seed, to watch on with wonder as he stormed to victory, finishing with a 101 average and 10 180s.
Jonny Clayton confirmed his rise to fourth in the world after hitting back from a set down to defeat Andreas Harrysson 4-2 in their last-16 clash. The Swede paid the price for failing to take his chances after leading 2-1 and also missing four darts to re-establish a one-set lead at 3-2.
Clayton said: “There’s a lot of things on my mind and moving to world No 4 was one of them. Every time I looked up, Andreas was hitting doubles. It was tough, I didn’t play my best and had a lot of loose darts, but that’s what pressure does to you.”
Krzysztof Ratajski is also through to the quarter-finals after pulling away to defeat Luke Woodhouse 4-2.
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This report will update later on Tuesday
