Gerwyn Price and Fallon Sherrock

Gerwyn Price throws his support behind Fallon Sherrock over the 'hate' she receives

By Chris Hammer

Darts

Thu November 17, 2022 · 2y ago

Gerwyn Price admits he feels a great sense of sympathy for Fallon Sherrock after she opened up about the 'hate' she's receiving.

Earlier this week, Sherrock revealed no longer feels welcome on the women’s tour due to the negativity towards her and what she feels is a hostile environment.

The 28-year-old has achieved numerous historic feats since her unforgettable 'glass ceiling smashing' run to the third round of the 2020 World Championship, which deservedly resulted in her being given invites into the PDC's lucrative World Series as well as a lot of media coverage.

Sherrock's other exploits include a stunning run to last year's Grand Slam of Darts quarter-finals, where she averaged almost 100 over 29 legs against Peter Wright, and coming from 7-1 down to beat Dimitri Van den Bergh 11-10 at the 2021 Nordic Darts Masters before finishing a close runner-up to Michael van Gerwen.

But apart from winning the PDC's Women's World Matchplay, which earned a spot in this year's Grand Slam of Darts, Sherrock has endured a tough 2022 and missed out on World Championship qualification after finishing third behind Lisa Ashton and teenage sensational Beau Greaves in the Women's Series Order of Merit.

The Milton Keynes ace feels other players are relishing her current struggles - despite how much publicity her efforts have given the women's game.

She said: “It doesn’t matter what I do, I am still going to get hate. I could be the best person in the world and I still get hate or I could do everything wrong and still get it. I am at a point now where I am like, ‘If you are going to hate me, hate me’.

“I am not going to beat around the bush, I even get it with players now and I genuinely don’t care anymore. I am at a point where I don’t care what anyone does or says to me."

“It is mostly the women, I am not welcome with the women much anymore, I learned that last weekend in Wigan. I want to try and better myself so I have more opportunity playing on the PDC side with the men, so hopefully I can perform better and improve. I feel what me and Lisa have done for the sport, I don’t think they realise how much we have helped.

“It’s not like they should say thank you, but they genuinely don’t care and they are all against us, they cheer against us and it’s just not a very nice environment.”

While Sherrock's main issues are about fellow players, she's also had to deal with a lot of negativity about her temporary fall from grace on social media.

Price is also no stranger to dealing with the 'haters' in the world of darts following his rapid - and often controversial - rise to the top and he certainly had sympathy for Sherrock.

The Iceman said: "She's been probably had even more abuse than me this year so maybe she should give me some advice on how to handle it! It's a tough world - you are out there to earn a living and do your best but there will always be critics no matter how good or bad you are.

"But I do feel really bad for the way she's feeling and how people have treated her."

"Obviously other players will feel threatened when you break through and have success. I don't want to play Josh Rock at the moment! But when it's the fans it's harder to deal with."

The defending Grand Slam of Darts champion was speaking after he booked his place in the quarter-finals of this year's event with a stunning comeback against Danny Noppert.

He also shared his thoughts on the tournament so far and the importance behind his incredible mental strength in the full interview below.

Grand Slam of Darts: Results

Group Stage

Scoring System: Each competitor plays each other once in a best-of-nine legs match, with two points going to the winner. The top two from each group will then progress to the knockout stages.

Group A

Dave Chisnall 3-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Gerwyn Price 5-1 Ted Evetts
Dave Chisnall 5-2 Ted Evetts
Gerwyn Price 4-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld 5-0 Ted Evetts
Gerwyn Price 5-4 Dave Chisnall

Group B

Simon Whitlock 5-2 Mensur Suljovic
Danny Noppert 5-4 Christian Perez
Mensur Suljovic 5-2 Christian Perez
Danny Noppert 5-2 Simon Whitlock
Simon Whitlock 5-3 Christian Perez
Danny Noppert 5-4 Mensur Suljovic

Group C

Joe Cullen 5-1 Ritchie Edhouse
Michael Smith 5-3 Lisa Ashton
Ritchie Edhouse 5-2 Lisa Ashton
Michael Smith 5-1 Joe Cullen
Joe Cullen 5-3 Lisa Ashton
Michael Smith 5-1 Ritchie Edhouse

Group D

Dirk van Duijvenbode 5-4 Martin Schindler
Rob Cross 5-2 Adam Gawlas
Martin Schindler 5-3 Adam Gawlas
Rob Cross 3-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Dirk van Duijvenbode 5-3 Adam Gawlas
Rob Cross 5-4 Martin Schindler

Group E

Nathan Aspinall 4-5 Alan Soutar
Peter Wright 5-1 Fallon Sherrock
Nathan Aspinall 5-1 Fallon Sherrock
Peter Wright 5-4 Alan Soutar
Alan Soutar 5-2 Fallon Sherrock
Peter Wright 2-5 Nathan Aspinall

Group F

Damon Heta 2-5 Jermaine Wattimena
Jonny Clayton 5-0 Leonard Gates
Damon Heta 5-4 Leonard Gates
Jonny Clayton 5-0 Jermaine Wattimena
Jermaine Wattimena 5-1 Leonard Gates
Jonny Clayton 2-5 Damon Heta

Group G

Ross Smith 4-5 Luke Woodhouse
Michael van Gerwen 5-2 Nathan Rafferty
Ross Smith 5-2 Nathan Rafferty
Michael van Gerwen 5-1 Luke Woodhouse
Luke Woodhouse 4-5 Nathan Rafferty
Michael van Gerwen 4-5 Ross Smith

Group H

Ryan Searle 5-4 Josh Rock
Luke Humphries 5-2 Scott Williams
Josh Rock 5-4 Scott Williams
Luke Humphries 5-1 Ryan Searle
Ryan Searle 3-5 Scott Williams
Luke Humphries 3-5 Josh Rock

Grand Slam of Darts: Knockout stages

Wednesday November 16 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Second Round (Best of 19 legs)

Raymond van Barneveld 10-8 Simon Whitlock
Michael Smith 10-8 Rob Cross
Danny Noppert 8-10 Gerwyn Price
Dirk van Duijvenbode 4-10 Joe Cullen

Thursday November 17 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Second Round (Best of 19 legs)

Nathan Aspinall v Jermaine Wattimena
Alan Soutar v Jonny Clayton
Michael van Gerwen v Josh Rock
Ross Smith v Luke Humphries

Friday November 18
Evening Session (1pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Quarter-finals (Best of 31 legs)

Two matches

Saturday November 19
Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Quarter-finals (Best of 31 legs)

Two matches

Sunday November 20
Afternoon Session (1pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Semi-finals (Best of 31 legs)

Two matches

Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Final (Best of 31 legs)

Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2