HOOD HUNGRY FOR SILVERWARE

JUSTIN HOOD insists his focus is firmly on winning titles after a historic Ally Pally run.

‘Happy Feet’ reached the quarter-final of the World Championship and pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament with a sensational 4-0 whitewash victory against Josh Rock in the last 16.

The Bristolian thrower banked a whopping £100,000 for his heroics at the major event before falling to a rampant Gary Anderson in the last eight.

Hood originally intended to open a Chinese restaurant but says his now packed schedule has delayed those plans for the foreseeable future.

He said: “I think the money is alright, it’s just finding the time now to go through everything.

“My phone and my managers phone has been going crazy.

“I have about twenty exhibitions booked in so I have to find some time to go through it all and we will have a look properly soon.”

Hood revealed his mindset at the Worlds was always focused on lifting the Sid Waddell Trophy, even if he took each match as it came.

He added: “It’s always to win the tournament. But deep down you are thinking one game at a time.

“Then luckily I got through four and ran into an amazing player in Gary.

“I was still gutted I lost but you can’t win everything and I will be back next year hopefully.”

World No50 Hood is now targeting his first Players Championship crown this season.

He continued: “My aim is to win tournaments. Everything I play in I want to win. I have the game there to do it.

“I know deep down it’s not going to work like that but if I can pick up one or two ProTour events I will be over the moon.”

Image by Taylor Lanning.