Fallon Sherrock goes from hairdresser to history-maker
Only a few short years ago Fallon Sherrock was a hairdresser in Milton Keynes but now she is making history as a female darts player all over the world.
At the age of just 25, Miss Sherrock became the first woman ever to beat a man at the PDC World Darts Championship on Tuesday evening.
The mother-of-one defeated Ted Evetts in a nail-biting five sets at Alexandra Palace, cheered on by crowds of supporters as she shattered the darts glass ceiling.
Miss Sherrock, who was one of only two women in the tournament, has had a glittering career since swapping scissors for darts.
She began playing in her teens and quickly joined the England youth team before being crowned the WDF World Cup 2011 Girls Singles Champion when she was just 17.
Miss Sherrock continued to cut hair in the first years of her sporting career, then won the Girls World Masters and the Women’s Jersey Open the next year.
Miss Sherrock reached the final of the women’s BDO World Darts Championship when she was only 20 in 2015.
The right-handed thrower started as a youth with the Buckinghamshire County Darts team, which plays in the village of Wing’s Sports and Social Club.
She has now played in competitions all over the world, including in Japan, Denmark and Slovakia, and is ranked as the fourth-best female player by the World Darts Federation.
Miss Sherrock was left speechless by her 3-2 victory over Evetts and later said the win proved women deserved to be treated equally to men in the sport.
“If I can keep on hitting the doubles then who’s to say I can’t keep going and beat any man,” she said.
“I feel I’ve always had the game but us women have never had the opportunity to prove it. Last night I proved to myself and everyone else that women can play darts against the men and beat them.”
Sherrock said she was in disbelief after her historic victory (Steven Paston/PA)Her father Steve Sherrock was in the audience watching as his daughter won the match after walking out to the Katy Perry hit “Last Friday Night”.
Miss Sherrock, mother to five-year-old Rory, who is autistic, will be auctioning off the now-signed dartboard used in the historic match to raise money for the National Autistic Society as a cause close to her heart.
She also said she suffers from a kidney problem which prevents her from drinking alcohol and previously caused her face to swell up, leading to abuse online after competitions.
By scoring six 180s with a match average of just over 91 in the first-round contest, Miss Sherrock propelled herself to the second round of the elite tournament.
She will now face Serbian-born Austrian player Mensur Suljovic, the 11th seed, on December 21.
