Gary Anderson v Justin Hood live stream | World Darts Championship 2025/26 Preview

Two-time World Champion Gary Anderson faces rank outsider Justin Hood in the quarter-finals of the World Darts Championship on New Year’s Day.

Anderson is the first of three former PDC World Champions in action on January 1st as he looks to end the remarkable debut run of the world number 86.

Anderson has rolled back the years to recapture his vintage best form on the sport’s most iconic stage booking his place in a tenth Ally Pally quarter-final.

Back-to-back World Champion in 2015 and 2016, Anderson is out to emulate that success a decade later, just over a week on from his 55th birthday.

The Flying Scotsman, whose best results had come away from the major stages in 2025 with a European Tour and a ProTour title, has racked up a tournament-high 40 maximums during his blistering run so far.

After atoning for last year’s shock opening round exit by battling back from 2-1 down to edge out his former protégé Adam Hunt, Anderson then recovered from dropping the first set to reel off three in a row for victory over Connor Scutt with a 105.4 average.

The eight-time major winner came through an epic tie break to deny Jermaine Wattimena with a 102.2 average, firing in 14 maximums and missing double 12 for a nine-darter in the process, before punishing costly missed doubles from Michael van Gerwen to seal a 4-1 win over his great rival in the Last 16.

Standing in the way of Anderson and a place in the Last Four is rank outsider Hood – who has probed arguably the stand-out story of the tournament so far.

Hood came into the event on the back of 16 first round exits in his first season as a Tour Card holder and with his major tournament appearances only coming in Minehead at the UK Open and Players Championship Finals.

The diminutive left-hander began his fairy-tale run by defeating Nick Kenny in straight sets before pulling off a breath-taking tie break scalp of Danny Noppert with a 103 average.

Hood then swept aside Ryan Meikle 4-1 in the Last 32 before producing a display of finishing seldom seen in World Championship history, hitting his first 11 darts at doubles en route to a 4-0 rout of Josh Rock with a 101.2 average.

Hood is now at least £100,000 richer and guaranteed to rock a minimum of 36 places to 5oth in the provisional Order of Merit, but will have his sights set on becoming undoubtedly the most unlikely World Champion in PDC history.

The match gets under way from around 2.30pm GMT and will be contested over the best of seven sets, with either 2024 World Champion Luke Humphries or reigning European Champion Gian van Veen awaiting the winner in Friday’s semi-finals.

How to watch Gary Anderson v Justin Hood live stream

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