The Count in the quarter-finals
Shropshire darts ace Ted 'The Count' Hankey is through to the quarter-finals of the BDO World Professional Darts Championships. Shropshire darts ace Ted 'The Count' Hankey is through to the quarter-finals of the BDO World Professional Darts Championships after a 4-1 victory over Ross Montgomery. He now faces a clash with the in-form John 'Boy' Walton who hammered defending champion 4-0 at the Lakeside. Friday's quarter-final is a repeat of the 2001 final which saw Walton take the crown off defending champion Hankey. For the full story see today's Shropshire Star
Shropshire's Ted Hankey will face Yorkshireman John 'Boy' Walton in the quarter-finals of the BDO World Darts Championship after beating Ross Montgomery 4-1 last night at Lakeside.
The Count, based in Aqueduct, Telford, kept his cool to brush off the challenge of Montgomery and set up tomorrow's juicy last eight tie – a repeat of the 2001 world final when Walton prevented Hankey from successfully defending his title.
"I didn't play well last night and didn't play brilliantly in my opening games, so there is still a lot of hard work to be done," admitted Hankey.
"I know I need to play better but it's just one of those things.
"Ross is big buddy of mine and those are always the hardest matches.
"Neither of us played well and, to be honest, I think we just showed each other too much respect.
"I couldn't find my pitch, I found it a long throw, but at least I know what I have to do before the quarter-final.
"Each round you get through is just a bonus and it's just about taking one game at a time at the moment."
A 15-dart finish in the deciding fifth leg gave Hankey the first set and he reinforced his superiority by sweeping through the second unchallenged.
Hankey achieved two maximums in the third but still lost the set to the resilient world No 7.
The Count swooped into a decisive 3-1 lead and then finished the job with a double 18 in the last after Montgomery had fluffed a match-saving double 16.
Elsewhere, Walton secured his place in the last eight with a stunning whitewash performance against defending champion Mark Webster in just 38 minutes.
Third seed Martin Adams beat debutant Daryl Gurney 4-2 and Gary Robson overcame Martin Atkins 4-2.
By SEAN WOZENCROFT
