Women’s darts trailblazer Fallon Sherrock has spoken out against the sexist abuse she receives on social media after losing a game.
The Milton Keynes-born star is one of the top players on the circuit.
Sherrock made history in 2019 by becoming the first female participant to win a match at the PDC World Championships, eventually making it to the third round.
She is currently competing in the Icons of Darts League – a series of round-robin tournaments replacing physical competitions during the coronavirus pandemic, where players take to the oche via webcam from their own homes.
Sherrock earned widespread praise online for defeating three-time BDO World Champion Martin Adams 5-3 on Wednesday.
She averaged 103 in the match, amassing four 180s and rounded off her win with a show-stopping 121 finish on the bullseye.
But the 25-year-old has to overcome obstacles that her male counterparts do not in order to compete as a darts professional.
After losing some of her other matches this week, Sherrock was greeted on Instagram with a violent and misogynistic attack, which she shared on social media.
She posted: “All I did was not win a game of darts, this is so wrong.”
However, Sherrock was overwhelmed with positive replies on Twitter.
One message read: “Fallon do not worry about cowards on a keyboard. The people love you and are on your side.”
Another said: “That’s awful Fallon.... just carry on doing what you do best... insignificant people like him mean nothing.”
Sherrock was due to appear in the Premier League Darts and the entire World Series of Darts tour, including trips to New York, New Zealand and Australia, before the physical version of the sport was suspended in March.
Sherrock may have thrown an arrow through the glass ceiling in darts – but this kind of message will be seen as proof that more work must be done in the sport.
