Darts: Hankey celebrates magical comeback

Ted Hankey pulled off an epic comeback victory over the Norwegian Robert Wagner to advance to the quarter-finals of the BDO World Championship.

The former champion Hankey could not bear to watch as he went down 2-0 to "The Magician", and was playing without his usual swagger. However, "The Count" rediscovered his touch and showed real character to fight back and take the third set, and then held his nerve to level the match at 2-2.

The second seed, who won the tournament in 2000, went into the deciding set with all the momentum, and in the end overpowered Wagner to close out a dramatic win.

Robert Thornton pulled off the shock of the second round with a comprehensive 3-0 win over the fourth seed, Tony West.

The Scot was making his debut at Frimley Green and had never before competed in a major tournament. He will now meet England's Darryl Fitton in the last eight after the fifth seed cruised past his compatriot John Walton, the 2001 champion.

In the women's final, Trina Gulliver won her fifth-successive world title with a 2-0 victory over Dutch opponent Francis Hoenselaar. Gulliver dropped only one leg of the final against her old rival.