Fallon Sherrock lifts lid on challenge she must overcome to seal Luke Littler showdown

Fallon Sherrock makes her return to Ally Pally on Tuesday to face Ryan Meikle, knowing a win will see her take on Luke Littler in the second round

In the crimpers derby, Fallon Sherrock will have to cut Ryan Meikle down to size to earn a dream shot at Luke Littler.

Meikle, a Suffolk barber by trade, once gave the Queen of the Palace a pair of clippers in her previous incarnation as a freelance hairdresser.

On Tuesday, they meet in the first round at the Paddy Power PDC World Championship with the incentive of a Saturday night prime-time shoot-out against Luke the Nuke awaiting the winner.

And if either of them goes on to topple the boy wonder of darts, it will feel as if Littler’s fairytale rise has fallen off the edge of a quiff.

Sherrock shot to fame five years ago when she became the first woman to beat male opposition at the tournament, turfing out Ted Evetts and Mensur Suljovic before bowing out in the third round against Chris Dobey.

She wishes it had not been 28-year-old Meikle, ranked No.62 in the world, standing between her and a potential meeting with Littler.

But Sherrock can still dream of comparing notes about life in the goldfish bowl with the Warrington teenager, whose shooting-star journey to the final last January topped Her Ladyship’s own dance with fame.

She has only praise for the way Littler has handled his celebrity - but warned that it is a double-edged sword.

“It’s like a big pressure kind of thing,” said Sherrock. “You don’t want to put a foot out of line. You don’t want to do anything wrong.

“As soon as something happens, it is so blown up - you could literally write one tweet or comment on something – and next thing you know it’s in the papers, it’s everywhere on social media.

“It’s like a fine line with the pressure you are under to be a role model as well, and I think he is doing really well. He is playing to his ability, he is not doing anything bad.”

Sherrock has tried to distance herself from her potential date with Litlter even though Meikle has not made it past the last 32 of any major tournament since 2019.

She said: “I got a text from my manager Jason about the draw. I replied back with single word - ‘Lovely.’ You cannot ignore it - you are literally fighting to play one of the best people in the world at the moment.

“But you also can’t ignore Ryan, - he’s a really good player in his own right. I know I’ll need to play my ‘A’ game otherwise I am losing.

“I get on really well with Ryan. He even gave me my pair of clippers. There could have been kinder draws, and I would have preferred not to play Ryan, the draw has to happen.

“We get the carrot at the end of it in Luke – and who doesn’t want to play the best in the world?There are so many people who have messaged and come up to me saying, ‘Wow, you must be so excited you are playing Luke Littler.'

“And I’m like, ‘Hang on, I haven’t even won my first game yet. It is a bit disrespectful because of the calibre of person that Ryan is. For me, I am not even looking at playing Luke, my main objective is playing Ryan, that is my first goal.”

Sherrock, now 30, admits she is frustrated not to have won another match at Ally Pally since her wins against Evetts and Suljovic earned worldwide recognition as a trailblazer from the likes of tennis legend Billy Jean King.

She admitted: “It gets to you because I have played well each time, I have got the sets, but I haven’t got over that line. I feel like the players that I have played have upped it towards the end of the games as well. I have always been in a fight.

“This year I feel like there is hardly any pressure on me at all - there are other players in the field who have got the media attention and stuff, so I can go under the radar.

“I have been poorly. I haven’t publicised it as such. Only a few people close to me actually know about it but I am on the mend now and hopefully getting my confidence back."