Fallon Sherrock walked away from the Beat Luke Littler event in Manchester with an eye-watering sum of cash. However, there were traces of hate also being directed at the way of the 'Queen of the Palace' after a lucrative night on stage. She pleaded her innocence while stating that she had every right to be competing in the event.

She sure made the most of it in a night that sums up how far darts has come. Littler was set to compete in a single leg against 20 competitors ranging from amateurs to the likes of Sherrock and Mitchell Lawrie, among some of the recognisable names.

This caused a stir with many darts fans who had expected the participants to all be relatively unknown names. The drama built up towards the inaugural event that was streamed live on Netflix as 'The Nuke' continued to lead darts into different stratospheres.

£501,000 was on the line with the second biggest payday in the sports history, one leg away. Sherrock, who has had plenty of attention in the mainstream before, capitalised on the situation, looking at home on the stage.

Winning the bull, she began strong with a 100 scoring visit before a 180 left 43 after 12. With her second dart in hand on tops, she kept her cool with Littler enduring an off-leg. The celebrations began for the 32-year-old, who is now a lot richer than she was at the start of the evening.

"I’m just so happy to overcome all the hate and win"

Seven years after making history at Ally Pally after becoming the first woman to win a PDC World Darts Championship match, Sherrock was back in the headlines. That success came at an unfortunate time, with the global pandemic halting her momentum. She still plays her trade to a very high level on the Women's Series with a return to Ally Pally on the cards later this year.

She was one of the more high profile names on the show but passed the qualification criteria due to her not boasting a Tour Card. This meant that she was on the backend of some harsh and ruthless criticism aimed at the organisers for her inclusion into the end.

Speaking to the Press Association, Sherrock avowed her innocence while admitting that she was seeing the hate comments. “I mean it’s been tough. Because obviously I do see the backlash and I do see all the negative comments," she said.

“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."

She had come through a lot in darts to make it to this point, but all the hard work is most definitely worth it. “I think people forget where I started off as well. When I won at the Worlds, I was still just doing WDF (World Darts Federation). I’m just so happy to overcome all the hate and win.”

Fallon Sherrock received £501,000 for defeating Luke Littler, the second most amount of money won in the sport

Hearn defends Sherrock and praises Littler

Barry Hearn has since come to the defence of Sherrock, underlying her rightful place in the lineup. The 78-year-old was a part of the judging panel for the Netflix show and felt that the 2022 Women's World Matchplay champion had every right to compete.

“No, not at all. She’s not a PDC Tour Card holder. She’s entitled to enter. Why should she be denied?" he said. “She’s a well-known player and she’s a very good player. But Mitchell Lawrie is a very well-known player and an excellent player."

He put forward a question to the critics. “Do you want just a series of 20 matches where someone can’t even throw a dart? No, of course we want excellence competing against excellence, and that’s what it was all about.”

Hearn also lavishly praised Littler, the reason that all of this has occurred. The 19-year-old's rise has come in tandem with the sport going to new places. Just a few short years ago, having a show streamed live on Netflix would have been unthinkable, but how times have changed.

“Luke Littler gave me the one thing I was missing, he gave me that young audience, and with it, all the benefits that follow," Hearn continued. "And one of those benefits is a company like Netflix seeing an opportunity, having the finance to do things that other people only dream about, and come up with innovative ideas."

Even he did not see this coming. “So the answer is three years ago, no, I didn’t see it coming. Now I find myself saying, ‘It’s no big surprise’. It’s a statement on where darts has become and what Netflix is contributing to the sports industry.”