Every sportsperson has a dream – but for most that is reaching the pinnacle of their chosen pursuit and winning trophies or medals.
Not for English darts player Justin Hood, who has turned a long-held dream into reality with his stunning run to the PDC World Championship quarter-finals.
Hood’s dream – more than 10 years in the making – is to open a Chinese restaurant.
“I think we’re there,” Hood said – after beating 11th seed Josh Rock to reach the last eight at Alexandra Palace on Tuesday. “I don’t think I’ve got a choice now.
“I haven’t got a timeline. We’ll be looking into it after the Worlds has finished and go from there.”
Nicknamed ‘Happy Feet’, Hood has already won £100,000 in prize money at Ally Pally – and would take home £1m were he to win the tournament. To put that into context, in the two years prior to this tournament his highest payout from a single event was £6,500.
After beating Rock to set up a match with two-time winner Gary Anderson on New Year’s Day, he asked the crowd: “Who wants a Chinese?”
Last year, Somerset’s Hood gave up working as a night porter at a hotel – a role he job-shared with his wife Jessica – and spent eight weeks living in a hotel in Milton Keynes to earn his tour card.
He is now delivering at the top level – something he and his wife Jessica always believed was possible with more practice.
Jessica said she had been aware of his dream to open a Chinese restaurant from the day they met a decade ago.
“Numbers have not been crunched yet and we haven’t done any type of business plan but it is something that will be probably happening next year,” she told BBC Radio Bristol.
And it turns out Hood, who started the tournament ranked 86th in the world, may not be alone in his latest venture.
A few months ago, world number two Luke Humphries – world champion in 2024 – agreed to be involved if it became reality.
“We get on really well,” said Humphries. “He asked: ‘If I do this, can we open a Chinese restaurant?’ I said, ‘yeah, yeah… we will’ so I think I’ve got to!
“He just wants to open one for the free Chinese food, and I’m like, ‘Justin, mate, we’ve got to make money from it’ and he’s like, ‘oh no, don’t worry about that’.
“I get the Chinese, but he’s in the tournament now. He’s a contender. He’s a competitor and he’s someone I’ve got to watch out for.
“As much as we’re great friends and get on really well, he is playing, arguably, the second best darts in this tournament.
“If he beats me in the semi-finals, there is no Chinese then!”
