BULLY FOR FALLON
Smith defends sport ’s golden girl
MICHAEL SMITH has told the practice room snipers to stop bleating about Fallon Sherrock being handed a place at the top table – because she is making them rich.
‘Bully Boy’ Smith had to recover from 3-0 down to knock the Queen of the Palace out of the Nordic Darts Masters – where Sherrock reached the final last year – in Copenhagen at the weekend.
Eliminated at the prestigious US Darts Masters in the first round a week earlier, saying she did not “feel comfortable” walking on stage at the iconic Madison Square Garden, Sherrock is aware of gripes about her inclusion in World Series events as a triumph of marketing over merit.
But Smith (inset), beaten world championship finalist at Alexandra Palace in January, appreciates her pulling power.
And after his 10-6 win over the 27-year-old hairdresser, the world No.4 told Online Darts: “It was a proper test. If darts was perfection, no one would watch it, but if you hit a few, miss a few and games turn into a dogfight, it’s entertaining.
“Fallon brings in big sponsors, she brings in the views and the clicks. She’s not here being rubbish, she’s playing well and competing, so fair play to her.
“The worst thing is some of the boys who aren’t here are saying she shouldn’t be. If I wasn’t here, I’d probably be saying the same. “But she’s probably generating more than Michael van Gerwen and Peter Wright for the PDC, as well as for the boys back home.
“In three or four years’ time, we might be touring America and Canada. She’s generating that because people want to speak to her, they want her there.” Like Sherrock, Smith has run the gauntlet of online trolls, notably losing all eight major televised finals he has reached.
Although his triumph in New York is not classified as a major, he recognised its significance even if keyboard warriors didn’t.
Smith added: “It’s not a major but at that tournament you can ask all eight players and they will say it’s the tournament they wanted to win.”