Fallon Sherrock speaks out on 'backlash' after 'Beat Luke Littler' win as Barry Hearn responds to fan
Matchroom chairman Barry Hearn has responded to a fan's comment about Netflix's 'Beat Luke Littler' show, which saw Fallon Sherrock defeat Littler over a single leg to win £501,000.
Sherrock scooped the biggest jackpot of her career by taking out a 43 checkout - via the three and double 20 route - to beat Littler, who had already defeated 13 of the 20 possible contenders he could face on the night.
It is a life-altering sum of money for 'The Queen of the Palace', who stated afterwards that she would 'probably' buy a new house for herself and her young son, Rory: "As long as Rory is alright, that is my main focus for the future."
Barry Hearn speaks out after 'Beat Luke Littler' show
The final line-up of 24 players for the show was largely made up of inexperienced darts players, with pots of four used to draw out most of the individual player selections on the night.
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The inexperienced players were supplemented by some more well-known names, with Sherrock, 14-year-old Jayden Walker, PDC Challenge Tour player Ashley Coleman and 15-year-old WDF world finalist Mitchell Lawrie among the contenders.
Prior to the show getting underway, Netflix issued a statement confirming that the audition process - where prospective contenders queued up for heats in London and Manchester before attending interviews - was 'exactly the same for everyone'.
Netflix said their sole requirement for the show was that contenders had never held a PDC Tour Card. And while Sherrock has won matches at the World Championship and competed at both the UK Open and the Grand Slam, she has never secured enough ranking points to win a full-time tour card or come through Q-School.
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When a fan on Twitter, therefore, suggested that professional players had been introduced by Netflix to take on Littler, former PDC chief Hearn shut down that claim.
"Fallon is not a PDC professional," he stated. "Worthy winner of a life-changing amount of money."
Fallon Sherrock on 'Beat Luke Littler' victory
Sherrock's victory means she has effectively trebled her total career earnings from darts; she had earned around £250,000 in total prize money prior to Friday night in Manchester.
"If you'd seen any videos or anything from the back room, I was shouting for people [to win]," she told The Sun. "It's because this money is life-changing. It's definitely going to change my life. I feel like people think I have more money than I have, and I really haven't.
"I was just egging everyone on, especially some of my best friends, Lauren [Bloomfield] and Katie [Sheldon, who both play on the PDC Women's Series]."
"It's been tough," she said (via Sky Sports) in a separate interview about the response to her inclusion. "Obviously I do see the backlash, and I do see all the negative comments. But at the end of the day, I fit the criteria for this. I've never had a tour card, and I wouldn't class myself as a pro really, because all I do is just play darts for the enjoyment of it.
"I think people forget where I started off as well. When I won at the worlds [in 2019], I was still just doing WDF."
Topics: Darts, Luke Littler
Ryan Smart