| Ted Hankey | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Edward Hankey |
| Nickname | The Count |
| Born | 20 February 1968 Stoke-On-Trent, England |
| Home town | Telford England |
| Darts information | |
| Darts | 14g winmau |
| Laterality | Right-handed |
| Walk-on music | Be On Your Way by DJ Zany |
| Organisation (see split in darts) | |
| BDO | 1994 to present |
| PDC | N/A |
| Current world ranking | 15 (BDO) 15 (WDF) |
| BDO majors - best performances | |
| World Ch'ship | Winner 2000, 2009 |
| World Masters | SF 1997, 2003, 2004 |
| World Darts Trophy | QF 2004 |
| PDC premier events - best performances | |
| Grand Slam | Quarter-final 2011 |
| Other tournament wins | |
| Tournament | Years |
| Dutch Open England Open |
1999,2003 |
| Updated on 11 October 2007. | |
Edward "Ted" Hankey (born 20 February 1968 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire) is an English darts player who is a two-time BDO World Professional Darts Champion. His nickname is The Count and his walk on music is Be On Your Way by DJ Zany.[1] Hankey built up a large following due to his obsession with and resemblance to Dracula. His entrance is typically marked by him wearing a black cape and throwing rubber bats into the crowd, while he plays his darts with a trademark scowl.[2]
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In the 2000 BDO World Darts Championship, he whitewashed Ronnie Baxter 6-0 in the final, winning the match with a spectacular 170 checkout – the highest three-dart finish achievable. The final lasted only 46 minutes, the shortest in the tournament's history. In the semi-final v Chris Mason, he scored a championship record 22 x 180s in a match. (The next highest are 15 and 14, which he also holds, in matches v Tony O'Shea in the final and Martin Adams in the semi-finals respectively, both in 2009.) He also scored a record 48 x 180s during the 2000 tournament. Ted reached the final again in 2001, but lost to John Walton 6-2. After this Hankey went through a fairly barren spell at the Lakeside and did not reach another major final or World Championship semi-final until his victory in the 2009 BDO World Championships.
In 2002, he was knocked out in the second round by Wayne Jones and suffered a first round exit in 2003 to 'Silverback' Tony O'Shea. Ranked number two for the 2004 tournament, he was defeated in the quarter-finals, again losing to O'Shea 5-1. This was a huge disappointment for a man who had won four Open events that year. Hankey again reached the quarter finals in 2005, this time falling to England captain Martin Adams 5-3, despite at one stage in the contest having led by 3-1 in sets. In the 2006 tournament, Hankey had an uncharacteristic "bad day at the office", crashing out at the first hurdle to Dutchman Albertino Essers.
Seeded eighth for the 2007 championship, he defeated Mario Robbe of the Netherlands by 3-0 in the opening round. He then hit another 170 checkout in his tight 4-3 victory over qualifier Davy Richardson, before losing to Adams, again by 5-3, although he had several darts to remain in the match. Despite this setback, Ted remained positive and upbeat about his darts future after the game. He achieved the 9-Darter in the Scottish open 2011.[3]
Hankey won his first round match of the 2008 BDO World Championship over Steve West 3-2. He twice found himself behind in the match, recovering from 1-0 and 2-1 down to win the final two sets in succession. Afterwards, Ted attributed his erratic form to a minority of the crowd which had jeered him throughout the match. Despite this, his campaign for a second BDO world crown remained on course as he defeated Andy Boulton in the second round. Ted then lost in the quarter finals to Australian Simon Whitlock 0-5. Again, he expressed his disaffection with elements of the crowd for displaying poor order during the game. Midway through the contest, however, Hankey himself had received a warning from match referee Barry Gilbey, for punching the dartboard as this was deemed unsporting and contrary to the tournament promoter's code of conduct. After the match, an emotional Hankey informed the BBC's Ray Stubbs that he was considering quitting the game and needed to assess his future.
The following day, however, he clarified his future plans in a frank BBC interview with Stubbs and Bobby George. Although hugely disappointed with his performance against Whitlock, he indicated that his future still lay in darts and vowed to return after a month-long sabbatical, during which time he was to work on and refine a number of fundamentals to his game.
However, controversy continued to follow Ted during the BDO International Open (formerly the England Open) on 15 June 2008. During a quarter-final match with former PDC player Robbie Green, Ted complained about the air conditioning being turned off. However, Green requested the air conditioning be turned off, as his much lighter darts were affected mid-flight, causing them to drift. This caused yet another erratic reaction from Hankey who threw his darts onto the board without much thought. Commentator David Croft labelled Hankey's latest antics as 'disgraceful'. Hankey went on to lose the match 2-1 in sets in the deciding leg.
In the 2009 BDO World Championship, Hankey revealed close friends and fellow dart players, including O'Shea and Gary Anderson, had told him he needed to "get his act together" if he ever wanted to play top-class darts again. He revealed he had been consuming a large amount of alcohol before commencing play and generally not taking himself seriously as a darts player.
Hankey began the 2009 Lakeside Championships with a first round victory over close friend Brian Woods. The scoreline of 3-0 in sets was telling, as Woods had suggested before the match that Hankey would be "lucky to get nil!". He then went on to win the Championship, beating his problems with "oche rage" as well as opponents such as former World Champion Walton and England darts team captain Adams, winning the final 7-6 in sets against O'Shea. Hankey led 4-2 at the interval, but missed several darts to win the match at 6-5, but he finally closed out the match 3-1 in the final set.
As a result of his world title win, Hankey was invited to the 2009 Grand Slam of Darts, which is organised by the PDC. He accepted the invitation and was drawn in group E with Scott Waites, Wayne Mardle and Simon Whitlock. He lost his opening group game 3-5 to Waites, but once more the crowd got under Hankey's skin, calling out and booing while he was throwing which visibly upset Hankey. Hankey later stated in an interview on ITV4 that he wasn't very happy and said that "if that's the darts you want to play, then keep it" and also called for more crowd order in the PDC, However he beat Wayne Mardle and should have beaten Simon Whitlock but lost 5-4. Hankey did state afterwards that he would like to play at the Grand Slam of Darts in 2010.
After his outburst at the Grand Slam of Darts Ted was fined £250 for his actions.
In the 2010 BDO World Darts Championship Hankey beat Gary Robson 3-0 and Willy van de Wiel 1-4 before being knocked out of the competition in the quarter final by Dave Chisnall with a scoreline of 5-4 on sets, despite at one point leading 4-1.
In the 2010 Grand Slam of Darts he defeated Phil Taylor 5-4 in the group stages giving him 2 wins out of 2 he went on to defeat Michael van Gerwen also 5-4 to proceed to the knockout stage of the competition. As the competition progressed the crowd began to get under the skin of Hankey once more, again booing as he threw his darts and ignoring requests from the referee to quieten down during the throws. Hankey was knocked out of the competition by Steve Beaton in the first knockout stage. During the match he won a potentially crucial leg and after pumping his fist and shouting "Get in there" he proceeded to a prolonged ourburst at the crowd. In the post-match interview he was particularly scathing of the crowd and the organisers for not controlling their behaviour, describing the crowd as "a bunch of muppets". Despite getting an initial warm response from the crowd (and Hankey was seen smiling and taking the pantomime booing in good spirit) Hankey indicated after last year's defeat, that he would not return for the 2011, event should he indeed qualify for it.
Hankey had a mixed year on the BDO Circult. He has won the Isle of Man open but has been unable to follow that up. Although he did get to the Semi-finals of the English Open.
Hankey qualified for the 2011 Grand Slam of Darts. In October, Sky Sports put him as top billing for the tournament. He managed to win 2 of his 3 group matches to qualify for the last 16. He played Michael van Gerwen with this time the crowd on his side. He won the match by 10 legs to 9 before losing narrowly against Mark Walsh 14-16.
Ted and his wife Sarah reside in Telford, Shropshire. They have a daughter (born November 2003) and a son born on 1 June 2006. Sarah's son (born 1999) from a previous relationship also lives with them. Ted has a further four children from an earlier marriage to ex-wife, Donna.