Fallon Sherrock wrote her name in darting folklore with her performances at the 2019 World Championships.
The then 25-year-old muscled her way into the men’s World Championship and competed and defeated two PDC Tour Card holders, including the World No. 11.
Sherrock was the overwhelming crowd favourite in all three of her Alexandra Palace matches in 2019 and earned the nickname ‘Queen of the Palace’ for her exploits.
Fallon Sherock toppled Ted Evetts and Mensur Suljovic to make history
Sherrock opened her account at the 2020 World Championships as one of only two women at the event, alongside Mikuru Suzuki.
‘The Queen of the Palace’s opening round tie was against rising star Ted Evetts, who had won his debut World Championship match the year prior against Simon Stevenson.
It was a back-and-forth encounter that went down to a one-set shootout after Sherrock missed four darts at double to win the tie 3-1.
Sherrock held her nerve to tie up the deciding set, and the match, and make history.
“I feel really happy because I have proven something for women’s darts, that women can play the men and beat them”, she told the Sky Sports cameras after becoming the first-ever woman to win at the World Championships.
Sherrock was not content with leaving just one historic stamp on the storied stage of Alexandra Palace, however, and her second scalp was even more impressive.
She played Number 11-ranked Mensur Suljovic, who had reached the final of the World Matchplay the year prior.
The 2018 World Trophy winner won in an even more dominant style, defeating the Austrian 3-1 on the Ally Pally stage and earning herself at least £15,000 in prize money.
The historic and landmark run would come to an end at the hands of Chris Dobey, who defeated the ‘Queen of the Palace’ 4-2 in front of a partisan crowd doing everything in its power to give Sherrock the advantage.
The crowd was so noisy in support of Sherrock that Dobey opted to wear earplugs for their clash.
The run was over, but the history had been cemented. Billie Jean King, the tennis icon who took part in the Battle of the Sexes in 1973, called Sherrock a ‘game changer’.
Sherrock has never won a World Championship encounter since, failing to qualify for the major tournament on two occasions, and losing to Steve Beaton in a first-round clash in 2022.
What has Sherrock done since her history-making turn?
Not content with making history at the World Championships, two years later Sherrock would stamp her mark on the Grand Slam of Darts in 2021.
Sherrock made a remarkable run to the quarterfinals, becoming the first woman to do so, beating Gabriel Clemens and Suljović in the process.
Sherrock’s run was ended by ‘Snakebite’ Peter Wright in the competition, as the Scot defeated the ‘Queen of the Palace’ 16–13.
The 30-year-old’s career has suffered from inconsistency in 2024, as she failed to obtain a PDC Tour Card at Q-School, but she did reach the final of the Women’s World Matchplay in July.