Halloween Big Interview: 'The Count' rises

Because, make no bones about it, Telford's Ted Hankey has been to hell to back, with the fight to get back among the world's top throwers still ongoing.

He's returned 'home' to the BDO – where he's been a world champion twice – after a less than glittering spell on the other side of the fence in the PDC, writes Craig Birch.

Leaving under a cloud with his health at risk, all he was offered by the circuit that made him a star was the chance to start at the bottom again.

Against all odds, the 47-year-old is going back to Frimley Green looking for a third Lakeside title in January. He'll be up against it from the start, but you wouldn't rule him out of anything.

And who better than the man who went from zero to hero at the PDC's Grand Slam to start 'the Count-down' to next weekend's cross-organisation tournament at Wolverhampton Civic Hall.

There's a proper truce between the two this time, in what was seen as the first olive branch since the 'big split' that saw the breakaway faction that is now the PDC formed in 1992.

Each of the eight groups will feature a BDO player among the four contestants, with Lakeside legend Martin Adams among them. He's turned the PDC down flat every other year he's been invited.

'Wolfie' is the BDO's icon, having won their world title three times and even joining their board of directors. The PDC purists among the Civic spectators could well give him some stick.

That's something Hankey knows all about, having been subjected to deafening boos from all around the hall when he took to the stage as the Grand Slam's pantomime villain.

He'll probably admit now he brought some of it on himself, with his first outburst at the crowd's heckling landing him a fine before he branded them a "bunch of muppets" the following year.

And he'll rightly tell you he won them around in the end, being dubbed 'Super Ted' on a run to the quarter-finals in 2011.

He'll be watching how Adams gets on at home in Aqueduct, live on Sky Sports, as he's not among the qualifying field for a second successive year.

But 'the Count' doesn't have to be there to feel proud of how the BDO and PDC are starting to build bridges. His message is clear – 'we are all friends in darts.'

He said: "First of all, I would like to wish everybody in the Grand Slam, and both the BDO and PDC World Championships for that matter, the very best of luck.

"There's fantastic talent in both of them and I couldn't pick a winner for either. For darts fans, the next three months are going to be massive.

"Martin Adams is a great guy and a top player. The reasons he had for not playing in the Grand Slam are his and now in the past. For him to accept the invitation is great for the sport and the fans.

"I've been to the Grand Slam and it's a fantastic tournament. To see him being a part of an event of that quality is going to be fantastic. As a spectacle, it's going to be brilliant.

"It's a great crowd, they get boisterous at times but they can be superb. If they do boo, he'll expect it and he'll be able to handle it.

"There's too much politics in the game, let's just accept there's two organisations and just get on with it. We are sports men, we're not children in a playground anymore.

"Hopefully, things will grow from this."

We've seen the good, the bad and the ugly from Hankey from the Civic stage, along with the downright distressing when he suffered a mini-stroke in full public gaze.

He was playing Michael van Gerwen in the group stages of the 2012 event when it became clear very quickly that something was seriously amiss.

His darts were flying all over the place, recording an average of just 58, as he continuously rubbed his left eye and lost his balance. A bewildered van Gerwen whitewashed him 5-0.

Many suspected he was drunk and even the doctors couldn't initially put their fingers on what had happened. It certainly wasn't a heavy chest infection.

He returned to the Grand Slam the following year and reached the last eight again, before leaving the PDC in early 2014, after his Pro Tour Card expired.

He still suffers from diabetes, after years of heavy cholesterol, and has to make sure he looks after himself. A married father-of-three, it's his first priority.

But sport is his passion as well has his profession, so getting back to the top table of the BDO is a boost for his morale as well as his bank balance.

It's been a long road, with spells out through illness last year although he still only missed out on the World Championship by one ranking point. There was no stopping him this time.

Now the challenge is to produce the sort of performances that saw him lift the trophy in 2000 and 2009, throwing arrows at Lakeside that no one could compete with.

A whopping 48 180s in 2000 remains unsurpassed by any player in one worlds while he still holds the records for first, second and third most maximums in one worlds match.

He said: "I've got myself right, my health has improved and the medication is working. It was all about changing my eating, drinking and sleeping habits. I prepare right every day and I'm OK now.

"I've played darts all of my life and that's what I'll do until the day I die. I've achieved a lot in the game, but I want to do more.

"After all of the problems I've had, I finally feel like it's onwards and upwards. It's been hard work getting back in, but I'm here to stay.

"I'm back on TV for the biggest tournament in the world, in my eyes, so I just want to go forward. I'm happy again and I always knew I could do it.

"I don't care about anybody who is put in front of me, Lakeside is my home and I own that stage. Being in the BDO last year and not being a part of it was the drive for me.

"More world titles are what I want and I'm going to go out there and get them. Take it from me – 'the Count' has risen!"

The practice board will be Hankey's main arena until it's time to head back to Frimley Green, although he still plans to compete in the Jersey Open and the Sunparks Masters.

He may be back but it's not going to be easy, as he comes into the worlds unseeded for the first time since 2009.

Another blast from the past will be resurrected at the worlds, with John 'Boy' Walton back in the big time for the first time since 2013. He came through an open qualifier.

He was the 2001 world champion, denying Hankey back-to-back titles in the final. The two now start in the preliminary round, with Walton first taking on Aussie Rob Modra.

Hankey is up against Canadian David Cameron, with the winner to meet the steady Martin Phillips. It'll only get tougher from there, but he's glad just to be in the mix.

And it wasn't without an almighty scare come the final of the World Masters, where Glen Durrant tackled surprise package Larry Butler.

Butler was in the worlds either way, as the highest-ranked American qualifier. But, had he won the Masters, that would have been his entry point and US No 2 Jim Widmayer would have also qualified.

Winner: 2000, 2009

Runner up: 2001

Semi-final: 2012

Quarter-final: 1998, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010

Second round: 1999, 2002

Suddenly, Hankey's 28th place in the BDO ranking wasn't enough, putting a new twist on proceedings until Durrant spared him with a 7-3 win in sets.

Hankey hadn't even played in the Masters and saw the final on television. There was cause for concern, but not from the man himself.

He said: "Larry did well but with how 'Duzza' was playing, I never saw anybody else winning it, no matter what was going on. That's why I wasn't that worried.

"He's got mindset so right that it's unbelievable. He's going to be so hard to beat in any tournament that he plays in.

"He's got to be the favourite for the World Championship, there's no two ways about that. It's a different stage at Lakeside, though, so let's see how he gets on there.

"You're going to have four world champions back at Lakeside in me, John, Martin Adams and the reigning title holder Scott Mitchell.

"In the past few years, there's only been one, as they have all gone to join the PDC. It's going to be a great tournament.

"There are so many players who could win it but I am in that fold, don't you worry about that.

"People raise their game for the big players and everybody needs to be worried about me, but I'm not worried about them.

"If I kick on, I could be better than 'Duzza' ever could be – and he's awesome."