JINGLE BELLE SHERROCK
Cracker of a Christmas for Fallon as she aims to make darts history again
PINK princess Fallon Sherrock will relish a different kind of Saturday night crunch when she faces Mensur Suljovic.
By her own admission, the hairdresser from Bletchley would normally spend her weekend evenings before Christmas on the sofa watching TV and eating crisps.
But the history girl who became the first woman to beat a man at the world championship has another chance to become a legend in her own munchtime tonight.
If you thought Sharrock’s stunning win against Ted Evetts was seismic, beating Austria’s world No.11 Suljovic would blow the roof off Ally Pally.
And if she makes it to the third round of the William Hill PDC world championship, the minimum £25,000 prize money would be worth twice as much as the BDO ladies’ world champion’s modest loot.
Watch out, Mensur: When Sherrock, 25, puts on her black-rimmed specs, she might look like a secretary from the typing pool in her snazzy pink top. But behind the shades, she will have the mentality of a Top Gun fighter pilot.
She said: “On the Saturday night before Christmas, I’d normally be at home watching telly and eating crisps.
“I know my life is going to be different now – next time I go to the supermarket, I’ll definitely make sure I have my make-up on. I daren’t go out without make-up now.
“I’ve never met Mensur, but he has a reputation as one of the nicest guys on the circuit.
“Once I get up on stage, I’ll have to forget who I’m playing and focus on the game. When the specs go on, the shades come down. It’s like Superman – I just change, all I do is focus on the board.
“But it will be different when I arrive on Saturday night. Last time, it was all new, but this time everyone will know who I am. I probably won’t be able to sit and watch as just another face in the crowd.”
Sherrock’s girl-next-door life, as the mother of five-yearold son Rory, has already changed beyond recognition.
The PDC have harnessed worldwide coverage of her achievement by extending an invitation for her to play at the US Darts Masters in New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden in June.
“We live in a big world, and Fallon’s victory has become headline news, not just sports news,” said PDC chairman Barry Hearn. “The first woman to do something is always special as it’s a breakthrough moment, and you couldn’t write the drama she scripted.
“Fallon will be playing in a tournament with the likes of Michael van Gerwen, and the message to other women is clear: If you’re good enough,
opportunities will exist or will be created for you. I think it’s a game-changing moment. She’s going to have the dream scenario in New York to make another statement.”
The Fallon phenomenon shows no sign of pausing for breath. Sponsors are falling over themselves to jump aboard the bandwagon and Sherrock is still breathless from the whirlwind tour of TV studios and radio stations which followed Tuesday’s historic 3-2 win over Evetts.
She said: “It’s been awesome, going back and forth across London to do radio interviews, TV interviews, playing darts with Piers Morgan. I never thought I’d ever appear on TV.
“By the time I got back to the hotel after my game
against Ted, I was still buzzing – the adrenaline was still flowing and I couldn’t switch off. I managed to get a bit of sleep but I was up again at 5am.”