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Back in the day with: Ted Hankey — From Hero to Zero: two-time world champion who ended career in disgrace

Originally posted on Dartsnews.com | Last updated Aug 21, 2025 10:06 AM ET

In this column, we regularly go back in the day with a particular darter. Today we do so with Ted Hankey, who at 57 already has a particularly eventful life story behind him.

Edward "Ted" Hankey was born Feb. 20, 1968, in Stoke-on-Trent, England, where living legend Phil Taylor is also from. Hankey began his career like many players that time with the BDO. In 1995, he made a first appearance by winning the Malta Open, a title he successfully defended a year later.

Gradually he climbed up the world rankings and in early 1998 he was allowed to make his debut at the BDO World Championship. In the legendary Lakeside Country Club, he immediately made a special impression in his opening match. Hankey defeated Australian Wayne Weening 3-0 and was the only person to record a 100+ average that week. Hankey steamed on, beating fifth-seeded Mervyn King 3-0 in the second ro und. In the quarterfinals, he eventually lost 5-2 to Colin Monk.

Hankey, however, was immediately someone who appealed to the audience. Because of his fascination with Dracula, he invariably came on stage in a black outfit with a cape around him. He also handed out black masks to the audience. In 1999, especially after his quarterfinal place the year before, he went to the BDO World Championship with great ambitions, but already in the second round things went wrong after a 3-1 defeat against Chris Mason. A big disappointment for Hankey, who had imagined much more of that World Championship.

First world title in 2000 with magisterial finish

Still, Hankey did not sit back and later that year he won the Dutch Open and the Gold Cup, two major titles within the BDO. Hankey entered the BDO World Championship in early 2000 as the fifth series leader, in what he announced in advance was to be his tournament. 'The Count' got off to an excellent start with wins against Bob Taylor and Steve Douglas in the first two rounds. In the quarter-finals Kevin Painter was also defeated, giving him a chance for revenge in the semifinals against Mason, whom he lost to last year. Hankey quickly fell behind 4-2, but helped by no fewer than 22 180s, he turned the lopsided situation around to win 5-4. In the final, Hankey finished the job nicely, in just 46 minutes (still the shortest World final ever) he defeated Ronnie Baxter 6-0. Hankey also closed the match with a masterful 170 finish.

A year later Hankey was in the final again, but this time he was defeated 6-2 by John Walton. In the years that followed Hankey regularly picked up international titles here and there, but until 2008 he never managed to get past the quarter-finals at the World Championships. A final at the Finder Masters was his best performance at one of the BDO majors during those years.

Old times revived at Lakeside

Those who thought Hankey's best years were behind him, however, were deceived in 2009. After all, that year he revived old times at Lakeside. After an easy 3-0 win in the opening round against his good friend and compatriot Brian Woods, Hankey defeated Ross Montgomery and John Walton in the next rounds respectively, so he finally made it to the semifinals of the World Championship. In those semifinals, he was 6-4 too strong for Martin Adams.

In a wildly exciting final, Hankey ultimately kept his nerves under control best by winning 7-6 over his compatriot Tony O'Shea. A second and, as it turned out, last world title for Hankey.

Brief transition to the PDC

After losing in the semifinals of the BDO World Championship in early 2012 to eventual world champion Christian Kist, Hankey decided to switch to the rival PDC association. Hankey had been able to gain some experience there in the previous years at the Grand Slam of Darts, where he got to compete as one of the BDO's top players.

He never managed to make much of an impression at the PDC and at the 2012 Grand Slam of Darts he also suffered serious health problems. During his last group match against Michael van Gerwen, Hankey suffered a minor stroke, from which he had to recover for several months.

After losing his PDC Tour Card in late 2013, Hankey returned to the BDO in early 2014. However, Hankey's best years appeared to be clearly over and in 2016 he was last there at the BDO World Championship, where he lost 3-0 to Martin Phillips in the opening round. Hankey also had a fear of flying and limited (distant) foreign tournaments to a minimum.

Conviction for sexual abuse

Hankey also fared less and less well privately. In 2017, the father of three children was even declared bankrupt. In the years that followed, we heard little from Hankey until he hit the news in an unenviable way in 2021. The two-time Lakeside champion had sexually assaulted a woman in September 2021. Hankey first denied the accusation, but was unaware that the offense had been caught on camera.

The victim filed a police report on September 21, 2021, and on the same day Hankey was arrested by police. During questioning, he indicated his innocence and further invoked his right to remain silent. Thereupon, he was shown the footage of the sexual abuse.

At the court hearing on Thursday, April 14, 2022, Hankey admitted guilt after all. The verdict was then handed down by the judge on Thursday, May 12; Hankey was sentenced to two years in prison and his name will be listed on the register of perpetrators of sexual assault for 10 years.

At the time of his arrest, Hankey had mysteriously withdrawn from the World Seniors due to personal reasons so was set to make a big stage return but that came crashing down. He also hit social media virality for his who's in charge me or the devil video which saw him dictating the route he was going to take 'single nine, double 8, walk off shake his hand'.

Barely a few months after hearing his sentence, Hankey was granted early release in early 2023. Since then, he seems to have withdrawn from public life. The chances of ever seeing Hankey back on a major darts stage seem non-existent.