- Fallon Sherrock has exited at the first round for the fourth successive year
- Her opponent Ryan Meikle has secured a second-round clash with Luke Littler
- Sherrock’s boyfriend Cameron Menzies broke down in tears on Monday night
Fallon Sherrock has crashed out of the World Darts Championship with a 3-2 defeat by Ryan Meikle.
The ‘Queen of the Palace’ took the first set before Meikle won the next two amid a six-leg winning streak, but Sherrock took the fourth set to set up a decider.
Unfortunately for her that went the way of Meikle, whose average of 83.53 bested hers of 81.81 at Ally Pally.
That sees Meikle set up a second round clash with last time’s finalists Luke Littler.
Sherrock, who has now exited in the first round for four years running, joins boyfriend Cameron Menzies in the list of competitors dumped out of the tournament.
Menzies broke down in tears on Monday after losing 3-1 to world No 130 Leonard Gates despite being ranked 91 places higher.
Fallon Sherrock has been dumped out of the World Darts Championship 3-2 by Ryan Meikle
Meikle has booked a second-round clash with Luke Littler after recovering from 1-0 down
Facing Littler is an ‘unbelievable prize’ at Alexandra Palace, said Meikle after his win
Sherrock’s boyfriend Cameron Menzies broke down in tears during his first round match at the World Championship
The Scot then shared a photo with his dad in hospital shortly afterwards on Monday evening
Shortly after his defeat, Menzies broke his silence on social media by sharing a photo of himself with his dad in hospital with the caption: ‘I didn’t wanna post this man… my dad is my hero.’
Menzies’ father had had an operation and Ally McCoist was among the well-wishers who reached out with supportive comments, even ringing the Scot.
After booking his place in the second round, where he will face Littler at around 9pm on Saturday, Meikle said: ‘For me, it’s an unbelievable prize, to play Luke Littler on this stage – the biggest stage of them all.
‘No one knows what is going to happen on Saturday, but to play him here, I’m really happy.
‘I’m not going to say that I’m going to win, but I just can’t wait to play him.
‘I felt good coming into the match. But before I knew it, she won the first set and I was on the back foot
‘I felt under pressure from the start and to come through that, I just feel unbelievable.
‘The crowd were behind Fallon – the atmosphere was unbelievable – and I just feel lucky to come through that in the end.’