Darts players will be "dreading" Fallon Sherrock getting 2022 Premier League spot

Former world number one Colin Lloyd believes Fallon Sherrock should be given a spot in next season's Premier League, even if she fails to get past Steve Beaton in the first round at the world championship.

Sherrock, 27, begins her second Ally Pally odyssey on Sunday when she takes on 1996 Lakeside champion Beaton, 57, competing in a remarkable 31st world championship.

The Bronzed Adonis is usually a big crowd favourite, but he'll have to settle for the role of pantomime villain this weekend when he takes on the Queen of the Palace at the scene of her most famous triumph.

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Lloyd, a semi-finalist at the Circus Tavern in 2003, spoke exclusively to Daily Star Sport about Sherrock's chances on Sunday and her hopes of winning a shock Premier League spot in 2022.

Asked how she'll fare against veteran star Beaton, he said: "I think she’ll hold her own. I just hope the crowd give Steve Beaton a little bit of support and the respect he deserves.

"I know they want to see Fallon do well, but Steve has admitted himself the trouble with him just of late is that he comes out of the blocks too slow. If he goes a set down in pretty quick time, say 3-0 or 3-1, that could possibly play on his mind for the second set.

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"Then he could be two sets down, and then all of a sudden, there’s huge pressure. He has got all the experience. It’s going to be his 31st world championship, which is a record breaker, but I don’t think anything can get you ready for playing in such a big game like that.

"He’s got all the experience in the world, he’s a former world champion himself, but like he’s said, I’ve spoken to him, 'I just need to go up there and play my own game. If I go up there and play my own game and my own game is good then hopefully I’ll get through.'

"I’ve always said it you can only control what you’re doing. You can’t control what your opponent is is doing. If your opponent is having one of those games, then that’s just the way it goes. As much as it’ll hurt if you do end up getting beat, that’s just the nature of the beast of the world of sport."

And what about talk of a Premier League spot for Sherrock? The darts world is split on whether the Queen of the Palace deserves a place in the 2022 edition of the tournament, but for Lloyd, it's an easy decision - even if she loses to Beaton.

He continues: "Listen, if she has a couple of rounds, if she has a round or two at the worlds, then why not? Even if she doesn’t beat Steve Beaton, why not?

"It’s something different. What people have to remember is that the Premier League isn’t a ranked event. It’s a spectacle, it’s a show. It’s about showcasing darts around the world.

"That’s the way our old chairman Barry Hearn used to say it. It’s about putting bums on seats, it’s about selling tickets, and it’s about doing what’s right for the sport.

"You know what, yeah, why not? Put her in. I mean that in the sense that she’s a class darts player. She’s not some mug off the backstreet.

"She can play darts and she can play darts to a very high level. Believe you me, well, we’ve already seen it, she can cause upsets, she can do a number on players and they know that.

"Believe you me, I think there’ll be a few players dreading Fallon getting the nod for the Premier League.

"But you know what, if you’re going to be a champion or going to be classed as a great player or whatever, as Steve Beaton said, you’ve just got to play your own game and beat anybody that’s put in front of you."

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