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Darts sensation Fallon Sherrock ‘so excited’ to be playing in Cheltenham Darts Masters at Cheltenham Racecourse

Cheltenham > Sport > Darts

Author: Roger Jackson, Posted: Thursday, 23rd January 2020, 09:00

Fallon Sherrock Fallon Sherrock

Fallon Sherrock has enjoyed some life-changing experiences over the past couple of months.

Described in some quarters as a global sensation, the 25-year-old has certainly taken the darts world by storm with her stunning performances.

Wins over Ted Evetts and then Mensur Suljovic at the PDC World Championships in December – she was the first woman to beat a man in the sport’s flagship tournament – catapulted her onto the back pages, and some front pages, of newspapers in this country and beyond.

And the good news for darts fans in Gloucestershire is that they are not being left out because they will get the chance to see first-hand what all the fuss is about when Sherrock takes part in the Cheltenham Darts Masters which this year takes place on Friday 21st February at the Centaur at Cheltenham Racecourse.

And while it will be a great night for the fans, it will be another new experience for Milton Keynes-based Sherrock because, as she told The Local Answer, she has never been to Cheltenham.

“No, I haven’t, but I can’t wait to come,” she said. “I’m so excited, I’ve been told it’s a great venue. It’s going to be a great night, I just hope the fans turn out in force.”

There’s little doubt about that, of course, because as well as Sherrock it will be a bit like a who’s who of darts with world number one Michael Van Gerwen returning for the annual event alongside two-times Grand Slam of Darts winner Gerwyn Price, 2008 world champion Mark Webster, rising star Joe Cullen and World Trophy winner Darryl Fitton.

Also booked is the legendary ‘King of Bling’ Bobby George and a darts party just isn’t a darts party without the former world number one who remains just as popular today as he was in his heyday as a player in the late 70s and early 80s.

But if George remains the King of Darts, then Sherrock is undoubtedly the new Queen of Darts.

While she’s still relatively young, she’s been around the sport for a number of years and even before her recent exploits at Alexandra Palace she had already established herself as one of the leading lights in the women’s game, winning a host of top titles.

The aim now is to compete on both the men’s and ladies’ tours, and she is certainly ambitious.

Ask her if she wants to be world champion and, as you’d expect, she says “yes” without a moment’s thought.

Ask her if she means on the men’s or ladies’ tour and she says after the slightest hesitation: “I’m going to say both, I want to be world champion of both.”

Sherrock is a delight to interview. Even though she is now in big demand, she is happy to talk and happy to answer any question put to her.

So what’s it like playing against the men?

“I enjoy it because it brings out the best in my game,” she said. “The standard is so good. You only get one chance at a double, it’s real pressure but I thrive on the pressure, I love it.”

And how does she deal with all the shouting and cheering from the supporters that is such a big part of darts?

“I block out all the noise,” she said. “I just concentrate on the board. I’ve trained myself to just focus on my darts. I used to let it affect me but now all that noise is just a blur, you can’t hear what people are saying.”

The crowds following her aren’t going to get any smaller over the weeks and months ahead, of course, but even though she’s won two high-profile matches against the men, she says she has been made to feel very welcome by her male counterparts who are now her opponents on the biggest stage.

“They’ve been very supportive, they’ve helped me a lot,” she said. “We’re all professional and everything that has happened has been good for the game because it’s helped raised the profile of darts.”

It certainly has and Sherrock, a single mum of one – “I’m a mum in the week and a darts player at the weekend,” she said – admits that she still can’t quite believe what has happened to her.

“It’s incredible,” she said. “I never believed that anything like this would happen. Two wins and everything exploded, it’s just taken off.”

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