PDC World Darts Championship: Who is Edward Foulkes?

Edward Foulkes' grandmother Judith, who still lives in the UK, is a retired nurse who now does voluntary work for the Red Cross

He plays soft tip darts at a bar in his native Japan, but now Edward Foulkes, the overnight success story at the PDC World Darts Championship, is dreaming of glory on the biggest stage.

Foulkes, who is half Welsh, had never been to the UK before he shocked the darts world by beating Belgium's Mike de Decker 3-0 in the first round.

He faces Brendan Dolan in the next round on Tuesday, 22 December.

"I'm enjoying it, this is my dream," Foulkes explained.

'Where have you come from?'

One of a long list of debutants at this year's World Championship, Foulkes is such an unknown quantity that the first thing he was asked after his shock upset win at Alexandra Palace was "where have you come from?".

Foulkes admits it feels like an accident that he ended up at the World Championship because of not playing on the PDC Asia Tour.

"I am not one of the better players in Japan. I work in a bar, a darts bar. I play soft tip professionally. I have previously watched the World Championship, but I have never dreamt about it, I don't know," he said.

Foulkes only tried to qualify for the tournament as the soft tip darts circuit has been curtailed by Covid-19.

Foulkes defeated three-time and defending champion Seigo Asada and Akihito Morita to win the PDJ Japanese National Championships in Kobe in October and book his place at the biggest darts tournament in the world.

"I quit darts for four years and I started playing again last year. I was working hard and I was trying to join the soft tip tour but there is no tour any more because of the virus," he explained.

"So there was a PDJ Japanese qualifier and so I was like let me try it; so I tried and I won and I am here right now.

"I'm enjoying [it], this is my dream, my dream has come true."

Foulkes will again be a heavy underdog when he faces Dolan, who is competing in the event for the 13th time. The 47-year-old was a quarter-finalist at Ally Pally in 2019 and is currently ranked 30 in the world.

Professional sporting pedigree

While Foulkes is enjoying sporting success in the UK for the first time, his family are no strangers to the sporting spotlight.

Foulkes' great-grandfather Hugh Edward Foulkes, who Edward is named after, played football professionally, winning a Wales cap in 1931, while also representing West Bromwich Albion and Darlington in the Football League.

His grandfather, also Hugh Edward Foulkes, was a professional golfer based in Llandudno and his father Paul Edward Foulkes joined the United States Marines in the early 1980s after leaving for the US.

Foulkes was stationed in Okinawa in Japan where he met Edward's mother Keiko.

"My dad is from Wales [the Foulkes family are from Llandudno] and my mum is from Japan, I hope my family are very proud," Foulkes said.

"I was nervous, but I have to do my best.

"I have had a very good year and I will be ready for the next round. I will do my best."

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