• BDO World Championship

Below-par Hankey through to Lakeside semis

Ted Hankey swept aside the challenge posed by Martin Atkins © PA Photos

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: Hankey fightback stuns No. 2 seed Waites
  
• News: Double trouble for Stone as Wolfie powers on
  

Ted Hankey never got out of third gear but still proved far too strong for Martin Atkins, the Count sailing through to the BDO World Championship semi-finals after a 5-1 triumph.

Both men had chances to claim the opening set but it was Hankey who held his nerve to grab the early initiative. The first nine legs went with the throw but Hankey took the second set against the darts in a fifth-leg decider and preyed on his opponent's inability to finish to open up a four-set advantage.

Staring a crushing defeat in the face, Atkins began to loosen up and finally got on the board to keep his bid alive at 1-4. His respite was brief, however, as Hankey - the 15th seed - sealed his fourth Laeside semi-final appearance after making a 64 outshot.

"I didn't play well, but Martin didn't play well either," Hankey told ESPN. "Things didn't seem to go well for either of us but I got the edge and kept finishing.

"I've got to be happy, because I'm in the semi-finals. I've got to wake up, because if I play like that then Christian Kist will destroy me.

"All you can do in any sport is beat the man in front of you, but playing like that won't be good enough in the semi-finals."

Earlier in the evening, Christian Kist booked a place in the last four on his Lakeside debut with an emphatic 5-1 victory over England's Alan Norris.

With both men throwing at a frightening pace, the Dutchman raced into a two-set lead inside 12 minutes. Kist missed double one for the third set, opening the door for Norris and he pounced to give himself a lifeline.

However, after narrowly missing out on a nine-darter - failing to hit double 12 with his last effort - Norris' level dipped and Kist re-established his superiority to run away with the match.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.