Hankey won the BDO world title in 2000 and 2009

Ted Hankey took the BDO British Open men's singles title for the first time with 3-0 win over Andrew Gilding at The Spa in Bridlington.

The 2009 BDO world champion cruised to victory over Suffolk's Gilding, making his stage debut in a BDO major event.

Staffordshire's Hankey was joined on the winners' rostrum by Warwickshire's Trina Gulliver, winning a record seventh British Open singles title.

Her 3-2 victory over Deta Hedman also saw her regain the number one ranking.

After a disappointing year, in which an injury to his throwing arm prevented Hankey, 42, from taking part in the majority of competitive BDO events, he returned to superb form with this victory.

"I've had a pretty barren time with the arm problem," said 'The Count'. "It has given me problems for the last year and has not only affected how I threw my darts, but also my self-belief as a player.

"But the British Open proved to me that I am now back on the road to recovering my true form. At times I just couldn't believe how well I was playing in each round.

"I was scoring heavily and finishing like the Ted Hankey who won two world titles. The big trebles were going in and I felt that I couldn't miss.

"To win the BDO British Open for the first time feels great, but I now I want to go on and win the Winmau World Masters on BBC TV next month (30-31 October).

"I've never gone past the semi-finals stage (1997, 2003 and 2004), but it would be extra special to do it this year because the final is played on Halloween.

"I can promise that the bats will be flying if I can pull it off."

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