PDC, Women in Darts, World Matchplay

The Inaugural Eight: Womens World Mathplay Field

Making Herstory

The first-ever staging of an event is always special for a sportsperson. If it’s the first event of its kind it must feel historic. Now put it on one of your sport’s most iconic stages and in the midst of one of its most prestigious televised events.

Surely there is only one thing that could be any better? Winning it and being the first name engraved on that trophy!

‘The Inaugural Eight’ contenders will take to the Winter Gardens stage on Sunday, July 24th in an effort to further write their names in history. 

One will become the first Women’s World Matchplay Champion and the first to win a PDC Women’s televised major darts event. These are major milestones in our sport’s history and it is fitting that they will be witnessed by one of the game’s most passionate crowds, in an iconic venue.

Lisa Ashton should be the favourite. The Lancashire Rose has qualified at the top of the table by staging a dominant Women’s Series performance. Of the twelve events staged so far she has won seven. The four-time World Champion has stage and experience aplenty, although perhaps not quite of the type that may be at Blackpool. 

Fallon Sherrock will be looking to add the Winter Gardens to the venues over which she is Queen. Having qualified second, with three event wins, whilst playing a variety of other events is a solid effort. Fallon is also highly experienced in front of all types of crowds and cameras.

The top two qualifiers may be overwhelming favourites to claim the trophy but it’s by no means a certainty. The next three players in the rankings have all hit form in recent weeks and could upset the form book. 

Lorraine Winstanley is a former Women’s World Master, as is Dutch thrower Aileen de Graaf, while Laura Turner has begun to show her true level of talent. All three have defeated one or both of the top two before.

Ranked from six to eight in the qualifying table are representatives of the game’s future but that may arrive sooner than you think. Ireland’s Katie Sheldon has done damage to the Ashton/ Sherrock axis before. Wales has a representative, in Rhian Griffiths, as gritty and determined as befits any darter from the principality and Scotland’s Chloe O’Brien simply will not quit.

Game on…..

LISA ASHTON 

  • Nickname The Lancashire Rose 
  • Nationality English 
  • Date of Birth August 27 1970 
  • Darts Used 24g Legend 
  • Women’s Series Ranking 1 
  • Twitter @LisaAshton180 
  • Betfred Odds 5/4 

The winner of seven Women’s Series events this year, Lisa is also a four-time Lakeside Champion who held a PDC  Tour Card in 2020-2021 and has played in three PDC World Championships. 

FALLON SHERROCK 

  • Nickname Queen of the Palace 
  • Nationality English 
  • Date of Birth July 2 1994 
  • Darts Used 24g Dynasty 
  • Women’s Series Ranking 2 
  • Twitter @FSherrock 
  • Betfred Odds 13/8 

Fallon shot to fame with her historic wins at the PDC World Championship in December 2019, but has since reached  the Nordic Darts Masters final and Grand Slam quarter-finals. 

LORRAINE WINSTANLEY 

  • Nickname – 
  • Nationality English 
  • Date of Birth October 28 1975 
  • Darts Used 24g Target 
  • Women’s Series Ranking 3 
  • Twitter @Lorraine180 
  • Betfred Odds 7/1 

Lorraine won Women’s Series Event Ten in June and has reached four other semi-finals in 2022, and she is a former  Women’s World Masters winner and Lakeside Championship runner-up. 

AILEEN DE GRAAF 

  • Nickname –
  • Nationality Dutch 
  • Date of Birth April 25 1990 
  • Darts Used 25g Grand Slam 
  • Women’s Series Ranking 4 
  • Twitter – 
  • Betfred Odds 14/1 

Top Dutch ace Aileen has reached two finals and three semi-finals on the Women’s Series circuit this year, and has  won the Women’s World Masters and World Trophy titles previously. 

LAURA TURNER 

  • Nickname – 
  • Nationality English 
  • Date of Birth October 16 1983 
  • Darts Used 26g Cosmo 
  • Women’s Series Ranking 5 
  • Twitter @LauraTurner180 
  • Betfred Odds 33/1 

Laura reached back-to-back Women’s Series finals in April and has been a quarter-finalist on four other occasions  this year, and is a former Lakeside Championship quarter-finalist. 

RHIAN GRIFFITHS 

  • Nickname – 
  • Nationality Welsh 
  • Date of Birth September 30 1980 
  • Darts Used 23g Red Dragon 
  • Women’s Series Ranking 6 
  • Twitter – 
  • Betfred Odds 12/1 
  • Rhian was a runner-up on her Women’s Series debut in March and has reached two other semi-finals in 2022, is a  former World Trophy semi-finalist and two-time Lakeside Championship qualifier. 

KATIE SHELDON 

  • Nickname – 
  • Nationality Irish 
  • Date of Birth December 23 2003 
  • Darts Used 26g Target 
  • Women’s Series Ranking 7 
  • Twitter @KatieSheldon180 
  • Betfred Odds 25/1 

Irish student Katie has reached a final and three semi-finals on the Women’s Series circuit in the past two years and  has also played on the Development Tour since 2020. 

CHLOE O’BRIEN 

  • Nickname Mini COB 
  • Nationality Scottish 
  • Date of Birth April 28 2003 
  • Darts Used 22g 
  • Women’s Series Ranking 8 
  • Twitter @cobx1003x 
  • Betfred Odds 50/1 

Civil servant Chloe is competing in her third year on the Women’s Series circuit, with two earlier semi-final appearances being accompanied by two quarter-finals so far in 2022.

—–ENDS—–

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