Bully Boy says he’ll ‘smash it’ in 2020
SHERROCK IN FIGHT FOR A FEMALE FIRST
SUPERMUM Fallon Sherrock will be over the moon if she becomes the first woman to win a darts battle of the sexes tonight.
But after an adverse reaction to medication for a kidney disease that left her face swollen – leading to witless social media abuse from those who knew nothing of her condition – she is just relieved to be over her “moon face” hell.
Only 48 hours after Mikuru Suzuki fell agonisingly short of striking a blow for the sisterhood against James Richardson, it is Sherrock’s turn as standard-bearer for the fairer sex at Alexandra Palace.
She takes on Ted Evetts at the William Hill PDCWorld Championship believing it is only a matter of time before a woman chalks up a win against the men at the event.
Sherrock, from Milton Keynes, has travelled a road full of pot holes to reach Ally Pally.
Six months after the birth of her five-year-old son, Rory, illness threatened to curtail her darts career – and the heartache damaged her confidence.
Sherrock, 25, said: “After had my little boy, I contracted a kidney disease
– my immune system was weak and I have been suffering from it for four years.
“I felt really upset about it and it was a worrying time. I didn’t really know much about it at the beginning
Iand when I went on different medication, there were side-effects and I had to play on TV.
“I got loads of criticism because the side-effects caused me to get ‘moon face’. It was a reaction to the medication and I didn’t know why it was happening.
“If I saw any negative comments on social media, I learnt not to read them. You have to be a strong person to deal with that aspect.
“But I’m not going to dwell on what people have said (when they don’t know the story) and I’m not going to let it affect my life. “My confidence is now a lot better than it was because I understand the condition better, I’m a lot healthier and it’s all sorted. “I’ve still got the issue with my kidneys but it’s stable.
“I have to drink lots of water to flush the kidneys out, so I will drink plenty of water on stage.”
Sherrock is relishing the discomfort world No95 Evetts, from Southam, will feel on stage this evening.
Bricklayer Richardson almost came a cropper when he let a two-set lead slip against Japan’s reigning Lakeside women’s world champion Suzuki, before finally running out a relieved winner after a sudden-death leg.
And that has encouraged Sherrock to believe that her first-round tie against Evetts could indeed become history in the making.
She said: “People will put pressure on
Ted. No one wants to be the first man to lose to a woman at the World Championship.
“He will probably get a lot of stick if he does but Ted is a nice bloke. I don’t think he would let it faze him anyway – he will hold his hands up.
“But it would mean absolutely everything to me if I could beat him. “I tried so hard to qualify for this, and if I can make it a ‘first’ for the women at Ally Pally, I would be so happy.
“Right now I am very excited. Driving up the hill to the venue, I just thought, ‘Wow!’
“I tried to take it all in and it really hit home that I have qualified to play at the World Championship. “The stage is so big – I prefer it to the Lakeside. “Looking out from the stage, when there was nobody in the arena, was amazing.
“When the place is full, and hopefully the crowd get behind me, that’s when reality will kick in.”
STUNNED Michael Smith has vowed to “smash the board” in 2020 – and will take stock after his shock defeat at Ally Pally on holiday at an elephant sanctuary.
‘Bully Boy’ Smith, last year’s beaten finalist at theWilliam Hill PDCWorld Championship, took an honest view after a limp 3-1 defeat by LukeWoodhouse in the first round on Sunday night.
He refused to blame an operation to remove a benign growth from his chest, less than three weeks before the tournament, or a long-running personal issue – believed to be a change of management – in the background for his flop.
Smith will escape the ignominy of his shock early exit on an exotic family holiday in the new year but he said:
“The only excuse I can give is that I didn’t turn up. I was garbage up there – not even that good.
“Christmas will be a bit rubbish because I won’t be coming back here afterwards.
“I could make 100 excuses, but I wasn’t good enough. But I am going to smash that board in 2020, show a new me and hopefully get that first major trophy.
“There has been a lot of things going on, away from the practice board, which hasn’t helped. There was the operation and another issue, going back months, that we finally got sorted last week.
“I’m taking the family to Thailand for two weeks to chill out. We have already booked to bathe and feed the elephants on the Phi Phi island sanctuary.”