Queen of darts
First woman to beat man in top match donates winning board to son’s autism charity
A FEMALE darts player who made history by beating a man in a top match is donating the signed dartboard to an autism charity – to honour her son who has the condition.
Fallon Sherrock, 25, who is mother to Rory, five, has also revealed how she overcame a kidney problem and fought back against cruel online trolls before achieving her unprecedented victory.
Miss Sherrock, who was a hairdresser until four years ago, wept with joy as she told the cheering crowd ‘we can play the men and we can beat them!’ on Tuesday night.
Yesterday she dedicated the win to her son by revealing that she will auction off the signed winning board to raise money for the National Autism Society.
Miss Sherrock – who was one of only two women to qualify – had been a 2000-1 shot to win the PDC World Darts Championships.
Ranked the fourth-best women’s player, she defeated 22-year- old Ted Evetts, the men’s world number 95, in a nail-biting five sets. Yesterday, she said: ‘Last night I proved to myself and everyone else that women can play darts against the men and beat them.’
The Milton Keynes-based player began playing darts in her teens with her twin sister Felicia Blay, with both representing England in 2011. Aged just 17, she was crowned the WDF World Cup 2011 Girls Singles Champion before going on to reach the final of the women’s’ BDO World Darts Championship four years later.
Despite the sport’s boozy reputation, Miss Sherrock is teetotal after suffering recurring kidney problems following Rory’s birth in 2014. Shockingly, cruel online trolls took to social media to mock her appearance when treatment caused her face to swell up.
But she has told how the comments inspired her ‘to get better and prove everyone wrong’. Miss Sherrock – only the fifth woman to play in the event – had been cheered on by a partisan crowd at Alexandra Palace as she came from behind to make history.
By scoring six 180s with a match average of just over 91 in the first stage, Miss Sherrock propelled herself to the second round. She will now face Serbian-born Austrian player Mensur Suljovic, the 11th seed, on December 21. Following the win, she said: ‘I am speechless. I feel really happy because I’ve made something for women’s darts. I can’t believe it.’
Referring to her son at a press conference last night, she said: ‘He doesn’t really understand the concept of it – but I spoke to him earlier and he’s just been so excited every time a picture of his face comes up on the TV.’