Fallon Sherrock shocks Ted Evetts to make history for women's darts at Alexandra Palace. Coverage continues on Wednesday from 12.30pm on Sky Sports Darts with Stephen Bunting and James Wade in action
Wednesday 18 December 2019 12:18, UK
Fallon Sherrock became the first woman ever to win a match at the PDC World Darts Championship, defeating Ted Evetts with a breathtaking 3-2 success on Tuesday night.
Japanese star Mikuru Suzuki had come agonisingly close to defeating James Richardson on Sunday, and Sherrock, a former Lakeside Women's Championship finalist, was hoping to use her inspirational display as a catalyst against PDC Development Tour winner, Evetts.
The 25-year-old received quite an ovation from a packed house and she did not disappoint the audience with an outstanding 106 checkout in the first set. But Evetts stayed calm under pressure to sink double eight against the throw to take the lead.
Sherrock had the bit between her teeth in the second set. She struck six perfect darts in the third leg before finding the single one with her seventh. With increasing vocal support Sherrock levelled the set thanks to a cool 80 checkout.
Milton Keynes thrower Sherrock continued her aggressive approach by landing a ton finish at the start of the next before breaking throw with a 64 out. Sherrock missed four darts to win the set and was punished by Evetts, who nailed double eight for a 2-1 lead in the contest.
The fourth set went to a deciding leg once more and Sherrock, who won the Denmark Masters and Denmark Open, took out a fabulous 13-darter to send the match into a one-set shoot-out.
She held throw and then broke with double eight to move one leg away from an historic win. Evetts claimed the next leg to apply pressure, but Sherrock held her nerve to claim the biggest win of her career, landing double 18 at the second attempt.
Sherrock will now hope to cause a seismic shock when she faces Mensur Suljovic on Saturday night with hopes of making it through to the last 32.
In the opening match of the night, debutant Richie Edhouse from Hastings proved a class above Russian No 1 Boris Koltsov, winning 3-1, to set up an intriguing encounter against James Wade on Wednesday evening.
Brisbane Masters champion Damon 'The Heat' Heta proved a class apart against Portuguese No 1 Jose De Sousa. The Aussie nailed a ton finish on his way to a fine 3-0 success. He will now hope to give three-time Lakeside champion Glen Durrant a test in their second-round clash on Saturday night.
The final match saw Dutchman Jeffrey de Zwaan survive a match dart against Raymond van Barneveld's conqueror Darin Young before turning the match around for a 3-2 win.
Six different nations were represented during the afternoon session of the darts.
The opening clash between England's Ryan Searle and Australia's Robbie King went the distance. Searle, who made the last 16 on his debut here 12 months ago, had already landed a magnificent 170 checkout earlier in the match, and he made it through to a meeting with Steve West on Saturday afternoon after hitting nine maximums on his way to a nervy 3-2 win.
Spain's Cristo Reyes came from two sets down to beat Filipino star Lourence Ilagan 3-2 in a feisty encounter. He faces two-time former winner, Adrian Lewis next.
Ilagan's fellow countryman Noel Malicdem made sure the Philippines still had some representation in the tournament as he wiped the floor against Rowby-John Rodriguez, winning 3-0. A 107 checkout to finish the match was the highlight of his performance.
In the final match of the day, 'The Polish Eagle' Krzysztof Ratajski overcame Zoran Lerchbacher of Austria 3-1 to make it into the third round.
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