Fallon Sherrock aims to transform from Supermum to Superman at PDC World Darts Championship against Mensur Suljovic
FALLON SHERROCK jokes she will go from Supermum to Superman tonight as her usual Christmas routine is thrown out of the window.
The first lady of darts usually spends the weekend before Christmas at home with her five-year-old son Rory, eating crisps and watching TV.
That will all change by about 9pm when she will once again become the focus of the sporting world at a prime-time hour.
Single mum Sherrock became the first woman to beat a man at a World Darts Championships following her sensational first-round triumph over Ted Evetts.
Now she faces No 11 seed Mensur Suljovic from Austria. Sherrock, 25, said: “On the Saturday night before Christmas, I’d normally be at home watching telly and eating crisps.
“My life is going to be different now — next time I go to the supermarket, I will make sure I have my make-up on!
“I’ve never met Mensur before, but he has a reputation as one of the nicest guys on the circuit.
“Once I get up on stage, I will have to forget who I am playing and focus on the game itself.
“When the specs go on, the shades come down. It’s like Superman — I just change, all I do is focus on the board.
“But it will be different when I arrive on Saturday night. Last time, it was all new, but this time everyone will know who I am.
“I won’t be able to sit and watch as just another face in the crowd.”
The guaranteed cheque of £15,000 represents the biggest payday of her career, eclipsing the £5,000 she earned for reaching the BDO Ladies World Darts Final in 2015.
Sherrock has plans to secure a full-time place on the PDC circuit via qualifying school.
And the qualified hairdresser is on the Big Apple bill next summer as part of the US Darts Masters at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Fellow pro Laura Turner, who has been commentating for Sky Sports, has been overjoyed and impressed by the sudden breakthrough.
She said: “Anything is possible in this tournament, you have seen it.
“A lot of seeds have fallen way earlier than expected. Fallon needs to continue throwing like she does.
“She has the control and doesn’t get flustered in a pressure environment.
“She has lifted boundaries, moved the goalposts, opening up the sport for people who didn’t realise there was a female circuit.
“Fallon could inspire the next generation. The media attraction off the back of this means people might sit up and say: ‘Oh, I didn’t realise we could do that, too’.”
Sherrock has received worldwide recognition. Tennis trailblazer Billie Jean King, who played Bobby Riggs in the famous 1973 Battle of the Sexes, was very impressed.
King tweeted: “Congratulations to Fallon Sherrock, the first woman in history to win a match in the World Darts Championship.
“Fallon earned more for this first-round win than she would have earned from winning the women’s championship.”
Suljovic, 47, said: “I have to treat Fallon as I would any other opponent.
“It’s a special game with everything that’s happened, but I won’t prepare any differently.
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“She qualified impressively and overall ladies darts is very close to the men’s game.
“I’ve played with and against females in the past. Will it add more pressure? I don’t think so. I have to treat her as another opponent.
“The atmosphere will be electric, maybe the best Ally Pally’s seen.”