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HANKEY STUNS WHITLOCK WITH AMAZING WILLIAM HILL GRAND SLAM COMEBACK

Ted Hankey made a remarkable comeback from 6-1 down against Simon Whitlock to win through to the William Hill Grand Slam of Darts quarter-finals on Wednesday night, as Scott Waites, Robert Thornton and Tony O'Shea joined him in the last eight.

Hankey continued his return to form at the Wolves Civic with one of the most memorable fightbacks in the event's history as he won through to the last eight for a second time. The Telford ace, a two-time Lakeside Champion, had suffered a minor stroke in Wolverhampton 12 months ago and has struggled to get to grips with diabetes since, but confirmed his return to darts' big-time in a dramatic contest.
Whitlock opened the match with a 104 checkout and won six of the first seven legs to leave Hankey reeling - only for the game to turn around as he clawed back into the game as the Australian faltered. Hankey won four successive legs to pull back to 6-5, and though Whitlock edged away with double ten, his opponent first in double five, tops and double 11 to move ahead for the first time at 8-7. Whitlock levelled by taking out 96 for a 12-darter, and the pair shared the next two legs to force a decider, but two tons helped Hankey to be first to a finish before he landed tops at the first time of asking to complete an amazing triumph.

"I can't believe that I won that game," admitted an emotional Hankey afterwards. " I felt so good before I went on stage and all of a sudden I was 6-1 down. Simon played brilliantly but I knew I could play better. I was pathetic in the first session and to be honest I started telling myself off - I took my aggression out on myself and I got so wound up that I found a place that I went into, and I was alright then. All of a sudden I found myself 8-7 up and I just had to hold my throw, and I thought that my finishing in the second half of the game was great. In the final leg I had the throw and against a great player like Simon you'd expect to lose it, but he didn't seem to hit anything and the 58 was two of the biggest darts I've ever thrown. For once in my life I wanted to hit the big 18 and see tops go in with the first dart, and I did it. It's been a rough 18 months for me but I know I can play the game and I'm looking forward to the quarter-finals now - it's like I've been given a new lease of life and this can kick-start my career."

Hankey now plays 2010 Grand Slam of Darts champion Waites in Friday's quarter-finals, after the Lakeside Champion continued his love affair with the Wolves Civic with a fine 10-6 defeat of Mark Webster to open the second round.
Webster held leads of 2-1 and 5-4 early in their game, with the pair sharing the first 12 legs before Waites pulled away with 180s in successive legs and then sealed victory with a 13-dart finish.

"It's a good win and anything can happen now," said Waites. "I felt a bit nervous tonight because I find it tough playing a mate like Mark, and that showed on stage - I didn't have that really bad killer instinct that you need. Neither of us could hold throw early on and it was quite a strange game, so I'm glad to get through it. I said after the group stage that I was going to go and practice my scoring, but I didn't seem to practice my doubles, so I need to get some sort of balance between my scoring and doubles for the quarter-finals. If I can score like I did tonight and finish like I did through the group stages then I've got a great chance."

Former UK Open champion Robert Thornton and three-time Lakeside Championship runner-up Tony O'Shea will also meet in the quarter-finals on Friday night, after they overcame Mervyn King and Andy Hamilton in titanic struggles.

Thornton had burst into a 4-1 lead in his clash with King, who hit back with five successive legs - including two 12-darters and a 121 finish - to move 6-4 up. The Scot responded with a 13-darter in levelling and shared the next four before taking a 9-8 cushion and completing victory with a 161 checkout.

"It was a battle and I'm delighted to have won," said Thornton. "I won the first session 4-1 but Mervyn came back out and caught fire! I went into the second break trying to figure out what had happened because I wasn't playing badly, but Mervyn didn't miss a thing. I'll have another battle with Tony on Friday. He's been playing steady darts but I know that if I can play some of the darts that I've shown during this competition then I can hopefully come through it."

Stockport's O'Shea enjoyed a 10-7 victory against Andy Hamilton in their second round contest, with the 2007 finalist hitting eight 180s and a 136 finish but unable to overhaul his opponent, whose tally of seven maximums was accompanied by 16 scores of 140 or more. The pair had shared the first six legs, but O'Shea hit a key 13-darter in a run of three legs as he established a cushion which he would never lose.

"It was a great game and a close game and I'm so chuffed to have won that," said O'Shea. "We're very similar characters as well as similar darts players; he's a great player and to win against him is fantastic. The 180s are brilliant and they look great on TV, but 140s are the groundwork and if you hit plenty of them then you're not going to be far off - and when I had the throw it felt like I was hitting two 140s in every leg."
O'Shea has lost in seven televised finals during his career, but said: "I keep falling just short in big competitions but I feel as if I'm hitting form at the right time and I'll be giving it my all to try and win a major."

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