"The signs are that the strength in depth may be coming, so we should leave the door open."
Tuesday 24 December 2019 19:12, UK
Following Fallon Sherrock's show-stealing turn at the World Darts Championship, Barry Hearn believes the PDC "should leave the door open" for a women's tour in the future, although he has challenged the leading female players to demonstrate their quality at Qualifying School in January.
Sherrock made history at Alexandra Palace by becoming the first woman to win a match at the PDC World Championship - defeating Development Tour winner Ted Evetts in a pulsating five-set tussle.
However, she usurped that achievement with a sensational 3-1 triumph against 11th seed Mensur Suljovic on Saturday, averaging over 90 and converting 11 of her 16 attempts at double to pull off one of the biggest upsets in darting history.
The 25-year-old's success has generated unprecedented media coverage for the sport, with her exploits making headlines across the globe.
Hearn had previously refuted suggestions of a women's tour by insisting that the PDC is a gender-neutral organisation, although following Sherrock's ground-breaking success, he has refused to rule out the possibility.
"I think that you can never say never," the PDC chairman told the Darts Show podcast. "One thing that you mustn't do in business or in sport, is get carried away with a one-off, so far.
"Fallon's victory and Mikuru's performance were two great adverts for the women's game so obviously everyone wants to, in a way, jump on the bandwagon and life doesn't work like that. It's small step after small step.
"We made two spots in the World Championship and that's a decision that has paid off. What we need to see now, is not just the PDC, but the amateur bodies getting involved with more professionalism, more activity and more opportunity so that they grow the grassroots of the game."
This is the second straight year in which two women have featured at the PDC World Championship after the field was expanded to 96 players last year.
Lisa Ashton, Mikuru Suzuki and Anastasia Dobromyslova acquitted the women's game well in their tussles, although the performances produced by Sherrock have unquestionably been the story of the tournament so far.
There's a conveyor belt of talent emerging throughout the women's game, with 15-year-old Beau Greaves among those to be making her BDO World Championship debut in January.
"The signs are that the strength in depth may be coming, so we should leave the door open," added Hearn. "It's whether we look at other opportunities for women to send out that positive message to say that it's worth sacrificing your life.
"This is a game that you have to dedicate your life to and you have to make sacrifices for and you hope for big rewards, without the guarantee of big rewards. So, all we can do is to lay the foundations."
The ladies' game has improved beyond all comprehension over recent years, but there's uncertainty surrounding their imminent future with the British Darts Organisation seemingly on the brink of implosion.
Hearn believes that the PDC's principal focus should remain on the professional circuit and he's urged the amateur darting bodies to invest in the growth of the women's game.
"We should specialise in what we're good at which is the professional game and the amateur game have got to rise to the challenge in today's world because otherwise they're doing their dart players a disservice.
"I wouldn't say in two, five or 10 years' time there won't be a women's tour. I'd really like to think that it could be something organised by someone else, because we've got a lot on our plate to take this forward. We're aiming to be golf, we're aiming at that level.
"We've got £16m of prize money this year, I want it to go to £20m in the next two years and I want it to start kick-starting into the 30s and 40s, that's my long-term dream."
Four-time women's world champion Ashton came within one victory of securing a PDC Tour Card at Qualifying School last year, while Sherrock, Lorraine Winstanley, Dobromyslova and Deta Hedman also featured.
There is expected to be a record entry list at Qualifying School in Wigan and Hildesheim respectively due to the precarious nature of the BDO's future and Hearn has laid down the gauntlet for those flying the flag for the women's game.
"The message is out to the female players, show me. Q-School is coming up in January and it's going to be ballistic," said the 72-year-old.
"I don't know how many people are in it but I'm hearing that it could be over a thousand. No-one is entitled in sport, you're only rewarded for the results and the success that you achieve.
"The gauntlet is down for ladies players, you've seen Fallon and Mikuru, Q-School beckons. Are you good enough in a gender-neutral world to stand alongside a man as his equal on the oche?
"If you are, you're entitled to all of the rewards that the men get. And, by the way, because of your uniqueness you are probably going to get super rewards."
"What you must not be, with the women's game is patronising. You can't do them favours because actually it's disrespectful anyway and it doesn't advance the game."
Those rewards which Hearn references have already been evidenced in the aftermath of Sherrock's historic triumph.
The former Lakeside finalist will become the first woman to feature in a World Series event in 2020, after receiving a spot in the US Masters in New York, which takes place in June.
Hearn hopes the growing opportunities being afforded to the top female stars will inspire a new generation of talent and act as an incentive for the emerging stars progressing through the ranks.
"The first women that has a massive run in the World Championship or wins the World Championship, is going to make a fortune. If that doesn't inspire the legion of potential women darts players around the world, then nothing will.
"What you must not be, with the women's game is patronising. You can't do them favours because actually it's disrespectful anyway and it doesn't advance the game.
"So, all you can do is inspire them with a potential change of life, who knows for how long, you can throw that challenge out to women and all you can do really is sit back and hope that they pick that challenge up."
Coverage of the World Darts Championship continues on Sky Sports Darts throughout the tournament with another double session on Sunday getting underway at 12.30pm and 7pm.
