Spectacular Sherrock keeps Slam hopes alive

Fallon Sherrock averaged almost 102 to continue her Grand Slam of Darts debut with a record-breaking 5-0 victory over Mike De Decker to stay in contention for a place in the knockout stages.

Sherrock’s blistering display saw her set a new highest average for a woman in a televised tournament, her total of 101.55 beating Lisa Ashton’s 100.34 set at the UK Open earlier this year.

The Queen of the Palace qualified for the tournament for the first time by coming out on top on the opening weekend of the Women’s Series and almost two years on from her history-making feats at the World Championship she made more history.

Her victory over Belgium’s De Decker means she is just the second woman to win a match at the Grand Slam – Anastasia Dobromyslova’s 5-4 victory over Vincent van der Voort 5-4 in 2009 was the first but the Russian failed to emerge from the group, Sherrock is very much in the hunt.

“After last night, I’d soaked up the atmosphere, so I was a little bit more relaxed going into today’s performance,” she said after the match.

“I’m a lot happier with today’s performance, I mean I can actually hit a double today! I didn’t think that I was going to come into today, winning the game 5-0, but I’m so proud of myself and so happy.

“I just wanted to get a win. I’ve been practising so hard and I thought that I could do it. I was filled with confidence coming in and I just wanted to make my doubles, because I know I can score.

“I’ve absolutely enjoyed it. The crowd have been amazing, I’ve loved the buzz and I just can’t wait to come back and play my other game now… I’m so excited.”

Sherrock and De Decker had both lost on Saturday night but knew a win would keep them in the hunt for one of the two qualification places – and it was Sherrock who kept her nerve, starting brilliantly with seven perfect darts.

She limited De Decker to just one dart at a double, hit four maximum 180s and five of her nine darts at the outer ring in a sensational display that means a win over Gabriel Clemens on Tuesday night is likely to be enough to put her into the last 16.

Ashton was also in action but was beaten 5-2 by John Henderson before Sherrock’s stellar performance.

She took to the stage against the Scot knowing a win would keep her in contention for a chance to reach the knockout stages, but Hendo started fast to open up a 3-0 lead with some clinical finishing.

Ashton upped the ante and managed to match the Scot over the next four legs but with the pair splitting them it was Henderson who claimed the win that ignites his own hopes of progress as he battles to save his Tour Card.

Price and Joyce advance in afternoon session

Gerwyn Price continued his love affair with the Aldersley Leisure Village by booking his place in the knockout stage with a game to spare courtesy of a 5-0 win over Krzysztof Ratajski, who faces a Group A shoot-out to reach the second round.

Price has won both previous editions of the Grand Slam to be played at the Wolverhampton venue and having edged past Nathan Rafferty on Saturday he was near perfect against Ratajski.

The Iceman only missed darts at a double in the final leg of the match which also featured a sizzling 108 check-out and has now lost just one of his 16 matches at the venue.

Rafferty underlined his credentials as a contender to emerge from the group with a 5-2 victory over Martin Schindler that takes him level on points with Ratajski ahead of their Monday showdown.

In Group B, two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist Mervyn King kept his hopes alive with victory over Rusty-Jake Rodriguez in a last-leg shoot-out. The pair shared three huge finishes, with King’s 145 sealing the two points.

Jonny Clayton is in pole position after a hard-fought 5-3 win over Bradley Brooks left him top of the table. After a win over King on Saturday, Brooks is still in the shake-up for a place in the next round and he will face Rodriguez with both youngsters hoping to keep their hopes alive.

In Group C Rob Cross put himself in the perfect position for a place in the knockout phase, holding off a fightback from Jim Williams to win 5-3 and claim a second victory of the weekend.

Voltage will next face three-time Grand Slam runner-up James Wade, who picked up his first win of this year’s event with a 5-2 success over Boris Krcmar which eliminates the Croatian and leaves The Machine on two points alongside Williams.

Qualifier Ryan Joyce was the first player to book his place in the knockout stage, a hugely impressive 5-1 victory over Rowby-John Rodriguez thanks to a 108 average left him on four points in Group D.

It means Stephen Bunting – who eliminated Chris Dobey with a 5-3 win earlier in the day – will face Rodriguez to see who joins Joyce in the last 16.

Don’t miss a dart from the Grand Slam of Darts which continues on all week from Wolverhampton’s Aldersley Leisure Village – join us from 7pm on Sky Sports Arena on Monday night