Fallon Sherrock has told William Hill’s YouTube show, Club 501, that she believes female players may be scared to play against men on a regular basis, and that they must put in more effort and practise in order to reach the same level as their male counterparts.
The former PDC Women’s World Matchplay Champion had competed at the highest level across both major codes and within ‘Women’s Catagory’ darts as well as the open field events.
Speaking on William Hill’s YouTube show, Club 501, hosted by darts pundit and commentator Wayne Mardle, Sherrock said:
“If the women actually put in the effort and the practise, and actually played against the men more regularly, then they would get up to that standard. That’s why I keep saying we need more opportunities to play against the men, because doing so will make our game better. So many women play exceptionally well in the MODUS Super Series, which is proof of that. Gemma Hayter is an example of a woman who brought out her best game when playing against the men in the MODUS.
“I think female players might be scared to play against the men on a regular basis. They’re comfortable just staying in their own little league and they’re happy just to compete against each other. If they pushed themselves then they’d see just how much their game could actually improve.”
Although understanding of her view point, many would point out that Fallon has had many benefits and backing not available to all female players, especially in the past, and the fast improving women’s game is providing a stepladder towards those opportunities.
Darts World’s Coach said:
Players such as Beau Greaves are not afraid of playing men. But, they are sensibly nervous of playing at a level which is would require there very best game every week and may well damage their ongoing development. So mixing and matching while she develops has been a pathway for the current World Champion and will probably be so for most female players for at least another generation or perhaps permanently.
Sherrock also outlined her aims for the future, suggesting that the World Championship is in her sights, but she may go down the route of winning the women’s World Championship first.
“My mindset at the moment is just to keep doing what I’m doing,” .
“But I do have goals. I want to start winning more titles and at some point, I want to be a world champion. Because I’m on 30 years old, I feel as though I have so much time left to achieve these goals because there’s no age limit in darts. As long as I can maintain my standard, I should be okay.
“I want to win more titles and keep getting to the World Championships. Eventually I want to be a world champion, whether that be in the women’s game or the men’s. That is one of the boxes I want to tick. I’m not sure how I’ll go about it, whether I’ll play in the women’s until I win it and then play in the PDC, I don’t really know. Either way, I want to be a world champion.”
It is interesting to see the mindset of the first female player to truly breakthrough in the open arena. Fallon seems to have an unshakeable belief and apply that to her expectations of herself and others.
She is certainly correct that 30 is no age for a dart player. But as Indian Jones once said “It’s not the years, it’s the milage…” the careers of the very best to have played the game have been condensed into 20 years and their peak years have been even less.
—–ENDS—–
Images: William Hill / PDC
