Fallon Sherrock avoids clash with boyfriend but could face Luke Littler

Fallon Sherrock will not face boyfriend Cameron Menzies first at Ally Pally, but could face Luke Littler in a mouth-watering clash.

The ‘Queen of the Palace’ made her debut appearance at the home of darts in 2020, becoming the first ever women to beat a man at the World Championship, when reaching the third round of the tournament.

Only the most dedicated of darts’ fans knew of the female star before her meteoric rise, but it was her crowning moment, and it will now be her fifth Worlds appearance in north London, after earning her place on the Women’s Series Order of Merit.

Sherrock’s partner Menzies has also qualified for the tournament as the highest ranked non-seeded player in the draw, and it almost seemed a headline-writing clash at the oche seemed inevitable.

But with the 2025 World Championship draw now complete, the 30-year-old has discovered she has avoided a showdown with Menzies.

She will instead take on Ryan Meikle in the opening round, but she certainly hasn’t avoided a nightmare draw.

Should Sherrock claim victory, she will face darting superstar and teenage prodigy Littler in the second round.

‘The Nuke’ is in sensational form having made a record-breaking start to life as a 17-year-old on the PDC Tour.

He currently sits fourth in the PDC Order of Merit, earning his place with a breakout dream run to the final last tournament where he was narrowly beaten by Luke Humphries.

But he now sits as the pre-tournament favourite, and after already winning two major titles on tour this year including the Premier League, it will be an uphill battle for Sherrock.

The current title-holder from 2024 in Humphries, will face French prospect Thibault Tricole or Joe Comito in his opening encounter.

Both Littler and Humphries have been handed byes’ beyond the opening first round, with traditional format ruling seeded players avoid the risk of an early upset.

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Sherrock will be more delighted at the news she will avoid Menzies, given the partners shared conflicting views on a potential draw.

She spoke about how any match-up would be great for viewers, but joked it could cause issues at home.

“I mean, can you imagine the arguments afterwards? Regardless of who wins. Before and after, it would just be so nervy,” she said.

World Darts Championship 2025 full draw

Opening quarter

Luke Humphries (1) vs Thibault Tricole or Joe Comito

Raymond van Barneveld (32) vs Nick Kenny or Stowe Buntz

James Wade (16) vs Jermaine Wattimena or Stefan Bellmont

Peter Wright (17) vs Wesley Plaisier or Ryusei Azemoto

Stephen Bunting (8) vs Alan Soutar or Kai Gotthardt

Dirk van Duijvenbode (25) vs Madars Razma or Christian Kist

Damon Heta (9) vs Connor Scutt or Ben Robb

Mike De Decker (24) vs Luke Woodhouse or Lourence Ilagan

Second quarter

Luke Littler (4) vs Ryan Meikle or Fallon Sherrock

Ritchie Edhouse (29) vs Ian White or Sandro Eric Sosing

Danny Noppert (13) vs Ryan Joyce or Darius Labanauskas

Ryan Searle (20) vs Mensur Suljovic or Matt Campbell

Rob Cross (5) vs Scott Williams or Niko Springer

Gian van Veen (28) vs Ricardo Pietreczko or Xiaochen Zong

Nathan Aspinall (12) vs Cameron Menzies or Leonard Gates

Andrew Gilding (21) vs Martin Lukeman or Nitin Kumar

Third quarter

Michael Smith (2) vs Kevin Doets or Noa-Lynn van Leuven

Krzysztof Ratajski (31) vs Richard Veenstra or Alexis Toylo

Chris Dobey (15) vs Stephen Burton or Alexander Merkx

Josh Rock (18) vs Karel Sedlacek or Rhys Griffin

Jonny Clayton (7) vs Mickey Mansell or Tomoya Goto

Daryl Gurney (26) vs Florian Hempel or Jeffrey de Zwaan

Gerwyn Price (10) vs Kim Huybrechts or Keane Barry

Joe Cullen (23) vs Wessel Nijman or Cameron Carolissen

Bottom quarter

Michael van Gerwen (3) vs James Hurrell or Jim Long

Brendan Dolan (30) vs Chris Landman or Lok Yin Lee

Gary Anderson (14) vs Jeffrey de Graaf or Rashad Sweeting

Ross Smith (19) vs Jim Williams or Paolo Nebrida

Dave Chisnall (6) vs Ricky Evans or Gordon Mathers

Gabriel Clemens (27) vs Niels Zonneveld or Robert Owen

Dimitri Van den Bergh (11) vs William O’Connor or Dylan Slevin

Martin Schindler (22) vs Callan Rydz or Romeo Grbavac

“I don’t think it would be a good game for anyone to watch because we’d both be quite nervy and stuff.

“I know everyone wants to see it, but there’d be a lot of nerves in that one.

“I don’t think it’s a great thing that everyone wants to watch it. Put me up against any other player, I’ll be fine.

“Obviously, I’m not going to tell you the conversations that we have, but I always back myself, and he always backs himself. Hopefully, we never have to see it on TV.

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“I don’t mind it on a floor game, but hopefully not on TV. We do practice [together], and even then, it gets a bit nervy.

“Can you imagine it on TV? You would see all the emotions, and I think even if I hit a 180, I’d probably celebrate a little bit!”

Menzies will instead face Leonard Gates in an exciting opener, with the award of a meeting with Nathan Aspinall on offer if he picks up the win.

Instead darts fans will now face the eye-opening prospect of two of darts’ biggest names in Sherrock and Littler sharing the stage at the biggest event.

Sherrock will know focus must first be on Meikle, but a clash between the pair could generate seismic interest in the early stages of the tournament.