Fallon Sherrock beats Luke Littler to win £501,000 darts prize

Fallon Sherrock beat reigning world champion Luke Littler in a single leg of darts to win £501,000 at a live Netflix event in Manchester on Friday.

The 32-year-old sealed the prize with a 15-dart finish, hitting a 180 before checking out on double 20. Her win ended the competition, leaving five other amateurs without a chance to play for the money.

The event, Beat Luke Littler, matched the world number one against amateur players in one-leg games of 501. Sherrock qualified after viewers voted for her over Germany’s Jarod Becker, giving her 75% of the vote. The organisers said 25,000 people had applied to compete.

Sherrock is a 21-time winner on the women’s PDC Series. She made history at the 2019 PDC World Championship by becoming the first woman to beat a male opponent there, reaching the last 32. She later received an MBE for services to darts.

Littler, 19, had beaten 14 challengers before Sherrock, including 21-year-old Pearse Mackle, who came close to winning with a bullseye attempt but hit the nine. Sherrock was the 15th player to face him.

Littler praised her performance, saying: “Brilliant, that's what one person had to do - win the bull and go out in 15 [darts] and that's what she did, world class.”

Before the event, Littler had said he would donate the £501,000 to charity if he won. Instead, Sherrock took the prize. Her previous biggest payday cited by the BBC was £25,000 for reaching the third round of the 2019 World Championship.