World Darts Championship: Fallon Sherrock vows to ‘come back stronger’ after Alexandra Palace exit | Darts News

Fallon Sherrock won the opening set before losing 3-1 to Ricky Evans on Tuesday at the Alexandra Palace; Sherrock to head to PDC Q School in 2023 and targets a return to the World Darts Championship in the future

Fallon Sherrock believes she can take positives from her early exit at the World Darts Championship and insists she will “come back stronger” if she can return to the Alexandra Palace in the future.

Sherrock, who made history three years ago by becoming the first woman to win matches in the competition, suffered a first-round exit for the second successive year after being beaten 3-1 by Ricky Evans.

The ‘Queen of the Palace’ won the opening set and grabbed the early advantage in the second, only for Evans to take out a 122 finish on the bullseye on his way to levelling the tightly contested match.

Sherrock squandered darts to win the next two sets, allowing Evans came through both in final-leg deciders to set up a second-round meeting with Masters champion Joe Cullen.

“I think it was a stronger performance than what I have produced all year, so I cannot really moan about it,” Sherrock said post-match.

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Emma Paton is joined by Wayne Mardle and John Part as they react to Ricky Evans’ win over Queen of the Palace Fallon Sherrock.

“Obviously I am disappointed not to win, but at the end of the day, it’s stuff that I can take back and use as a learning curve. If I get there and qualify for next year, I know what to work on.

“The walk-on from Ricky [Evans] was funny, seeing him come on as Santa. Ricky will always have a fun attitude for a game, it made the situation very fun to play in. I am disappointed with the loss, but I will come back stronger.”

Sherrock won the inaugural Betfred Women’s World Matchplay title in July and won two events on the World Series circuit, with the 28-year-old setting her sights on securing her PDC Tour Card next month.

Ricky Evans narrowly avoided a shock defeat against Fallon Sherrock on day six at the Alexandra Palace

“Hopefully in years to come, this experience will help me in the long run,” Sherrock added. “There are some tweaks that I need to work on in my game, but hopefully all these experiences will help me become a better player.

“I will be going to Q School in January. There will definitely be more practice and I will make myself available for the opportunities us women can get. If I can get the opportunities and progress that way [winning a Tour Card], that is my plan for 2023.”

Evans: “Sherrock deserved to win!”

Sherrock had a slightly higher average than her playing partner and impressed through large waves of the contest, with Evans – who made his entrance to Shakin’ Stevens’ ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’ while wearing a Father Christmas beard – admitting he was fortunate to progress.

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Ricky Evans gets the crowd in the Christmas spirit with his festive walk-on at Alexandra Palace.

“I knew it was going to be tough, but I didn’t expect it to be that tough!” Evans told Sky Sports. “She is good! People are cheering because there’s a lady playing, but they don’t respect how good she actually is at darts.

“She was the better player in that game! I got away with that and I’m so happy to win – I’m chuffed to bits. She did miss doubles, she missed too many doubles and I took my chance and that is the story of my career.”

Although the match was a marked improvement on performances of late from Sherrock, Sky Sports‘ John Part believes she won’t be fully happy until she gets back to winning ways on the biggest stage.

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Ricky Evans says he has ‘nothing to lose’ after coming through a gruelling first round clash with Fallon Sherrock at the World Darts Championship.

“I thought it was a pretty even contest and I think Ricky finished better than normal – he hit 48 per cent on doubles which is really an excellent job,” Part said. “To hit the doubles at that rate from a bad start is really a good job done.

“Fallon, she can be happy with how she managed the game but she will certainly go back to the drawing board and get working on the doubles and fine-tuning.

“That was a good up sign for her but she wants the match wins and she isn’t going to be happy at all that she had a lead and didn’t carry on and win the match, certainly on the missed doubles.”

Watch the 2023 PDC World Darts Championship – live on Sky Sports Darts – all the way through to the final on January 3.