The Barnsley Metrodome is not exactly the first place you think of when it comes to the twists and turns of women’s sport. But on Saturday lunchtime, when Lisa Ashton toes the oche in a moment few darts fans would ever have imagined, it will be the latest step for a sport that has unexpectedly gained a reputation as a trailblazer for breaking down the barriers of gender discrimination at the highest level.
Female darts players have competed alongside the men for years. Ashton’s appearance at the PDC World Championship two years ago, when she narrowly lost to Jan Dekker in the first round, emphasised the growing quality in the women’s game. But in recent months, women’s darts has gained more mainstream media attention than ever before.
Fallon Sherrock’s memorable run at Alexandra Palace at Christmas sent darts into a new era but this weekend, when Ashton becomes the first woman to play full time on the men’s PDC tour at the first events of 2020, darts will reach a new level, with a woman playing men for the same prize money in the same tournaments on a regular basis.
Ashton, a four-time world champion in the British Darts Organisation, is philosophical about what becoming the first woman to come through the gruelling four-day Q School event and earn a two-year tour card means for darts. But as she explains: “I don’t want any special treatment. I don’t want to be thought of as Lisa Ashton, the first woman to play on the men’s tour. No thank you.
“I want to be Lisa Ashton, the dart player. If someone beats me, fair enough. Whether I’m a man or a woman shouldn’t come into it.”
She has played against men in exhibitions for years and is honest enough to admit there is still some resentment towards ladies darts in dwindling corners of the sport.
“There’s still a fair few male players who I think feel the pressure because they don’t want to lose to a woman – hopefully that helps me out this year,” she laughs.
Ashton will be a full-time professional on the PDC for at least the next two years, opening the door to previously unimaginable riches. There is more than £14m available each year on the PDC tour: a far cry from the recent edition of the BDO World Championship, when Ashton earned only £4,500 as the runner-up.
Sherrock has emerged as the face of women’s darts thanks to her run at Alexandra Palace but that does not seem to bother Ashton, who has been the standard-bearer in the BDO for years and has been ready to test herself against the men for a while. “I missed out by a point at Q School last year but this time I came back with the serious intention of getting a card,” she says.
“I’ve seen the ladies game snowball in recent years and knew this was the next step, one of us getting a card. Fallon has made the headlines, and wasn’t she brilliant at Ally Pally? But below her, myself and Mikuru [Suzuki, the reigning women’s world champion], there’s so many names coming through. I think it’s just the start. Barry Hearn said if the women were good enough, they’d get opportunities. We’ve proven that can happen.”
Ashton gained her tour card at Q School on legs difference, after a seven-hour wait on the final day to learn her fate. She was one or two legs away from missing out on her dream of becoming a PDC professional. “I was so emotionally exhausted, I celebrated by going home, making a brew and ordering a takeaway,” she smiles.
“It’s not sunk in. It probably won’t until I get there on Saturday and see Michael van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price and the rest of them and think: ‘Wow, I’m playing these guys every week now.’” Her tour card gives her the opportunity to play at the biggest events, including the UK Open in March, which Sherrock has herself reached via a local qualifying event.
“Wouldn’t it be great if we could play each other in a PDC event on TV,” Ashton says. “It’d be great because one of us is definitely through, but hopefully that isn’t until the latter rounds.” A return to Alexandra Palace at the end of this year is also high on the agenda – but for now, Ashton is simply keen to enjoy the moment in Barnsley this weekend and settle into her new life as a professional.
“We’re showing we can play darts now,” she insists. “For years, people thought women playing darts was a bit of a novelty but now people can see we’re good enough. To break that glass ceiling, inspire a few more ladies to take the game seriously and believe they can play with the men would be on a par with anything I’ve done in the game. It’s pressure, but good pressure.”
