Sherrock will face Mensur Suljovic on Saturday night and confirms she will attempt to secure a Tour card at Q-School in January
Wednesday 18 December 2019 20:27, UK
Fallon Sherrock was calmness personified as she faced the media after a whirlwind day as sport's newest superstar, and insisted she drew inspiration from Mikuru Suzuki ahead of her landmark victory.
The 25-year-old from Buckinghamshire beat Ted Evetts in their first-round match at the World Darts Championship, and the aftermath has been nothing short of astonishing with her feat as the first woman to win a match at the tournament resonating across the globe.
Rewind 12 months and the timeline that brought us to Tuesday's landmark moment, you'll see Lisa Ashton and Anastasia Dobromyslova blaze the trail as the first women to feature in the PDC World Championship and then Suzuki's agonising near-miss followed on Sunday night.
Facing a growing press corps, Sherrock was quick to pay tribute to the reigning women's world champion for setting the tone for a moment that has captured the sporting imagination.
"She did really well and she definitely inspired me," Sherrock said.
"Mikuru got so close. I always believed I could do it and the fact that she nearly did it gave me more inspiration to do it."
A morning tour of breakfast TV and radio was followed by a hastily-arranged press conference at Alexandra Palace, which packed out the press room before Wednesday's evening's play where Sherrock was the studio guest.
Having been whisked all across London, Sherrock was eagerly awaiting one thing.
"I always wanted a blue tick [on Twitter]. I kept asking my manager, 'How do I get it? How do I get it? How do I get it?'
"And when they showed me when it just appeared on my Twitter earlier, I was over the moon. I was gobsmacked, I wanted to start jumping up and down.
"I've been going all over London, going to different studios and stuff. I've loved every minute of it. It's been awesome.
"It's been absolutely manic. I didn't think it was going to blow up as much as it did. I enjoyed every minute of it, and I can't wait to see what else it holds.
Given her performance on Tuesday, it was no surprise to see her take everything in her stride, although she admitted that in the end had she known the furore she would have caused, it might have made things different.
"When I played last night, I didn't think about making history or anything like that. I didn't put extra pressure on myself," Sherrock added.
"If I had been thinking about it, I'd have been feeling nervous. I kept looking over, and they (family) kept keeping me calm. It was really good to have them there to witness the history with me.
"I hope I've done women's darts proud, put women's darts on the map and just give it more recognition, deserved really."
Sherrock confirmed that as well as the BDO World Women's Championship in January, a trip to PDC Qualifying School next month, alongside the likes of Mark Webster and Paul Nicholson, is on the cards. But first, she has an important addition to the diary.
A second-round meeting with world No 11 Mensur Suljovic, who she admits she has never even met, and with the eyes of the world on her and Ally Pally on Saturday night, she'll be looking to the crowd for more of the same.
"I'm really excited to play Mensur. I could only dream to be playing one of the best men's players in the world, and I'm really excited to play on Saturday. I can't wait.
"I really appreciated the crowd last night. It definitely helped my confidence and helped me play how I could. I'm really happy that I got over the line."
Watching on PDC chief executive Matt Porter was under no illusions about the scale of what went down, insisting this is exactly what was hoped for when two World Championship spots were issued last year.
"It wasn't to put women up there as cannon fodder. We put them up there because we knew that they can compete on a level footing," he said.
"Fallon proved that last night, but to be fair to the other ladies, Mikuru played earlier this week, and Lisa and Anastasia last year proved that well.
"It wasn't a surprise to us, at some point, a woman was going to win a match. It was great that it was Fallon, in the manner she did the other night. What an opportunity for her to progress in this tournament."
With women's sport riding the crest of a wave and darts now at the forefront, given the equal standing that saw Sherrock make history, the questions have already started coming about whether the PDC should invest in the women's game.
"All our tournaments are open to men and women, here in the UK and around the world. It's never been something we've pigeon-holed before, like men's darts and women's darts," Porter added,
"But we're living in changing times. We're seeing the reaction to what happened. We are seeing the groundswell of positivity, and the support that Fallon and the other women that have played on the stage have attracted."
In 1993, amid much acrimony, the WDC that eventually became the PDC was born and the behemoth of professional darts was born, the time may be right for another change.
"Generally what we've done for darts over the last generation has worked and been progressive," he adds.
"This is something else that we can harness and use to take the game forward. I can't sit here and say 'yes we're going to do this and do that', but I can say that we're pleased to be a small part of, and something we'll use for the good of the game in the future.
"It's only right that if we've got players who are capable of playing at the elite level, that we use that for the good of the sport. We want to give more women darts players the opportunities to go and do what Fallon did last night. Let's look and see what has happened, and see what we can do to keep that snowball gathering momentum."
Coverage of the World Darts Championship continues on Sky Sports Darts with Sherrock's second round match against Mensur Suljovic on Saturday night. Don't miss a throw on Sky Sports Darts with live coverage from Alexandra Palace until the final on New Year's Day.
