TED HANKEY won through a see-saw battle with Michael van Gerwen to reach the quarter-finals of the William Hill Grand Slam of Darts with a dramatic 10-9 victory.The young Dutchman looked set to cause an upset when he took leads of 2-0 and 7-5 against the two-time Lakeside Champion, but Hankey produced some fine darts to hit back and lead 9-8.
Van Gerwen forced a decider with a 13-dart finish, but was unable to break in the final leg before Hankey took out 100 in two darts for a famous win.
Hankey now plays Mark Walsh in Saturday's quarter-finals, having turned around the Wolverhampton Civic Hall crowd to end the contest hearing his name cheered following a fine contest.
"I've had a bit of a rough time with the crowd in previous years but it was superb to hear them singing "Super Ted" - in fact it was hard to concentrate!" said Hankey.
"They created a great atmosphere and we both rose to that. Michael played superbly but he gave me a couple of chances and I took them. I didn't start well but it came together in the end."
Van Gerwen made a superb start to win the opening leg against the throw with a 13-darter - setting up double 16 with a 177 score - and then doubled his lead with a 76 checkout despite a 180 from Hankey.
Hankey got off the mark in the third with a 14-dart checkout, and punished three missed doubles from van Gerwen to level before posting double five for a 3-2 lead.
Van Gerwen levelled on double top and then finished 81 to break in 12 darts and 108 to move 5-3 up.
Hankey landed a 180 and took out 84 for a 12-darter in reply, but van Gerwen won two of the next three on double top to lead 7-5.
The Telford-based star finished 80 to take the 13th leg, and levelled the game in a dramatic next leg, with van Gerwen missing the bull, two darts at double eight and one dart at double four before Hankey posted double one to square the contest.
Hankey then checked out 78 for a 14-darter to regain the lead, only to narrowly miss the bull in the next as van Gerwen took out double nine to pull back to eight-all.
Hankey hit hit fifth 180 of the match in another 14-darter as he pushed one leg away from victory, but van Gerwen responded in style to win the 18th in 13 darts to force a deciding leg.
The Dutchman held the early advantage as Hankey suffered two bounce-outs, but van Gerwen saw his opening dart for a 164 finish suffer the same fate to allow his opponent in on 100, and Hankey made no mistake with a two-darter for victory and a quarter-final place against Mark Walsh.
"Saturday will be a different game against Mark," added Hankey. "He's a great player and the format's a little bit longer again, and I'm looking forward to it."
Van Gerwen admitted: "I missed too many doubles and gave too many legs away in the end. I've played well but I'm disappointed to lose this game.
"I'll go away and build up now for the World Championship because I'm feeling good about my game at the moment."
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