PDC World Darts Championship: Justin Hood's 'Happy Feet' are on the march

The 2026 PDC World Championship tore open its festive wrapping and delivered a proper Christmas cracker, as debutant Justin Hood authored a night of theatre, nerve and thunder by edging past the highest seed to fall so far, Danny Noppert, in a contest already chiselled into the Ally Pally memory vaults.

On one side stood pedigree. A former UK Open champion. World number six. A man who has spent the past year loitering in the semi-final stage of major after major. The Freeze. Ice in the veins and numbers to match. Opposite him, a first-time World Championship entrant from England, Justin Hood, stepping onto the grandest stage wearing a hat adorned with tiny penguins – an image that screamed novelty, innocence, vulnerability. David had arrived awaiting his Goliath.

For a long time Darts World's resident coach – AIM180 – has been pontificating on the playing field is getting more and more level especially for the lower ranked qualifiers:

“Events such as the MODUS Super League and European Tour etc, give players a huge amount more practice and experience of the biggest games with lights, cameras and audiences some of these guys have thrown darts for £25,000 and / or qualification for the biggest events.

They are under less pressure and are simply more fearless and better prepared to give their very best. Add in the 128 man field, changing the dynamic of the draw, and it’s been game on all over the place…”

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Last night , as if to prove coach’s point, on one side stood proven pedigree. A former UK Open champion. World number six. A man who has spent the past year loitering in the semi-final stage of major after major. The Freeze. Ice in the veins and numbers to match. Opposite him, a first-time World Championship entrant from England, Justin Hood, stepping onto the grandest stage wearing a hat adorned with tiny penguins – an image that screamed novelty, innocence, vulnerability. David had arrived awaiting his Goliath.

And if there is any arena on earth primed to witness such rebellion, it is Alexandra Palace in December.

THE PDC WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IN FACTS AND FIGURES: Arm yourself on dartsdatabase.co.uk

Crucially, this was not a tale of a giant stumbling. Noppert did not underperform. Far from it. What unfolded was two men scaling heights simultaneously, trading thunderous blows in what was comfortably the finest match of the tournament to date. From the opening exchanges, both arrowsmiths peppered the treble twenty with metronomic regularity. The quality was immediate. The intent unmistakable. Yet it was Hood who struck first blood. And second.

As Noppert’s doubling briefly deserted him, the Somerset debutant capitalised without mercy, surging into a stunning two-set lead and sending shockwaves rippling through the Palace galleries. The crowd sensed it. Something was happening. Noppert, seasoned and unflappable, corrected course. The doubles were recalibrated. The response emphatic. Two blistering sets followed, both men sustaining ferocious scoring power as parity was restored. Of course it was going the distance. It could not end any other way. And this decider… this was art.

Hood – “Happy Feet” by moniker, fearless by nature – broke first to lead 2–1, then stood on the brink, agonisingly wiring the bull on a 128 checkout as his first match dart fluttered away. Every time Hood edged close to destiny, Noppert produced a masterclass in survival, none more outrageous than a 144 checkout plucked from the ether like a magician’s final trick. Ten incandescent legs passed. Lungs burned. Hands shook. History hovered.

In the final act, Hood stepped up first. A timely maximum. Then a commanding 140. Suddenly a chance at 124 to end it all. It didn’t go. But Noppert, stranded on 164, was vulnerable. Hood returned. Sixty-six dispatched. Game over. Bedlam. The biggest win of Justin Hood’s darting life sealed not with luck, but with courage. Both men averaged north of the ton. Neither deserved defeat. Yet sport is cruel, and Ally Pally demands a victor. This was one for the archives. Next, it’s Ryan Meikle after Christmas for a place in the last 16 – and both would have fancied their chances.

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