Shropshire darts ace Ted Hankey takes a bow at pub challenge
He's the darts player some fans love to hate – but Shropshire's Ted Hankey still knows how to draw a crowd.
Ted, known as The Count, was the star turn at a pub darts night, where he pledged to continue to battle to be the world's best on the oche.
The Shropshire-based thrower, who lives in Aqueduct, Telford, appeared alongside PDC commentator Wayne Mardle at Wolverhampton's Cleveland Arms pub. He is back with the BDO darts organisation two years after crossing over to rivals PDC.
The cross-code Grand Slam, held at Wolverhampton Civic Hall in November, will be the only PDC event that the 46-year-old is allowed to play in.
The two-time BDO world champion, who once suffered a mini-stroke on the Civic stage, explained last night that he loves the competition.
He said: "I still get boos and cheers, too."
Hankey, who took on all-comers at the pub last night, first competed at the Grand Slam in 2009, where he was fined £250 for his outburst at the crowd's booing. In 2010, he described the Grand Slam faithful as "a bunch of muppets" in a post-match interview.
But a truce was formed in 2011 and turned The Count into Super Ted when fans appeared to warm to him as he went on a run to the quarter-finals.
In 2012, he suffered a mini-stroke on stage in Wolverhampton during defeat to Michael van Gerwen, with some erroneously speculating that he was drunk.
He returned to the Civic oche last November after four months, reaching the quarter-finals.
