Telford's Ted Hankey may make it to Lakeside
Telford's Ted Hankey could yet be invited to Lakeside for the BDO World Championship he has won twice - as a commentator.
'The Count' failed to qualify for the tournament after defeat in the play-offs last week, but there's talk he could be a part of proceedings as a pundit for the BBC.
The 46-year-old, who lives in Aqueduct, rejoined the organisation where he won titles in 2000 and 2009 in January, two years after making a bitter defection to the PDC.
Hankey has been trying to build up enough ranking points to earn a third chance at the BDO's richest prize, but that has proved beyond him.
It was game over after a group 13 defeat in what was a tough draw against Irishman Michael Meaney, losing 2-1 at the Hull Sports Arena.
Shifnal's Steve Ritchie, a Scottish international, managed to win two games in group 11, 2-0 over Michal Ondo and Robert Cree, but was then defeated 2-1 by Greg von Lienen.
Hankey also failed to qualify for the Winmau World Masters, where he has reached the semi-final three times, although he did win one game at the same venue.
He was up and running with a 3-0 whitewash of David Brown, before he was edged out in the last leg 3-2 by Sven Groen.
