Darts: Chisnall back from dead to 'Count' out world champ

Published on Friday 8 January 2010 09:01

DAVE CHISNALL staged a dramatic fightback to send defending champion Ted Hankey tumbling out of the BDO World Championship at Frimley Green.

Chisnall reeled off four straight sets to come from 4-1 down at the interval to seal a thrilling 5-4 victory and book his place in the semi-finals.

The 29-year-old from St Helens struggled with his doubles early on but appeared to rectify that problem at the break as "The Count" began to falter on his finishing.

"I just did not give up. At the interval I thought I was finished but people told me not to give up," Chisnall said.

"I missed a few doubles in the first half of the game but just kept plodding on and started to hit the trebles and doubles in the second half of the match.

"My family have not been able to make it down this week because of the weather but I will be making arrangements for them to be here for tomorrow's semi-final."

Hankey said: "Without the break I would have won 5-1. I can't believe what happened. After the break Dave came out as a different person, he was unbelievable."

The other quarter-final was a far more one-sided affair as top seed Tony O'Shea beat Robert Wagner 5-1 to set up a last-four meeting with Chisnall.

Last year's beaten finalist was not at his best but always looked too strong for his Norwegian opponent.

In the first women's semi-final Rhian Edwards of Wales beat England's Karen Lawman 2-0.