Fallon Sherrock, the history-making Queen of Alexandra Palace, is hell-bent on achieving another first this week by becoming the first woman to win a PDC major.
The 27-year-old from Milton Keynes is a 90/1 chance and certainly has few fears about taking on a world-class field having proved she can more than hold her own amongst the PDC’s men’s elite.
She’ll certainly have the crowd on her side as well, as will Michael van Gerwen, the 29/10 shot, who heads a seven-strong Dutch contingent aiming to delight their fans at the ASAF Live.
Price Faces Brutal Test in Title Defence
Gerwyn Price, the world champion and world No.1, is seeded five in the 24-player field for the World Series Finals and the 16/5 shot remains the man to beat.
Victorious in this event 12 months ago in Salzburg, The Iceman will be smarting after being beaten in the Grand Prix final, by his good mate Jonny Clayton, and in the last eight of the European Championship a few days later, when he averaged almost 108 and lost to Van Gerwen.
But Price, if he’s looked at the draw, knows he will have it all to do to hang on to his crown.
As one of the eight seeds, the Welshman starts in round two with a potential minefield of a task against the winner of the all-Dutch battle between Dirk van Duijvenbode and Jeffrey de Zwaan, probably Van Duijvenbode.
Then if the rankings work out and Price survives, his path to glory would mean having to beat Clayton, Van Gerwen and Peter Wright.
Sherrock Looking To Shake Up Men’s Game Again
Sherrock is in the bottom half of the draw, the easier half not that she needs any help.
The women’s No.1 is a trailblazer par excellence. The first woman to win a match at the World Championship at Alexandra Palace, the first woman to play in the Premier League, the first woman to reach a major PDC final, there really is nothing stopping the talented Sherrock.
She’s already nailed her place in the draw for the Grand Slam next month and the Worlds in December and demonstrated again how good she can be when reaching the final of the Nordic Masters, the one and only qualifier for this weekend’s tournament.
She beat Niels Heinsoe and Dimitri van den Bergh and found herself 6-3 up on Van Gerwen in the final only to lose 11-7. She’s 11/1 to win two matches to win her quarter.
Smith Can Bully Way Through Bottom Half
The other seeds alongside Sherrock in the bottom half are Gary Anderson who, as usual, goes into battle undercooked because he has such a light schedule these days, Van den Bergh and Wright, who suffered a pair of first-round losses at the Grand Prix and Euros.
Among the non-seeds are some serious heavyweights, notably Grand Slam champ Jose de Sousa, Grand Prix semi-finalist Danny Noppert, dangermen Dave Chisnall and Krzyzstof Ratajski, plus Michael Smith, 22/1 to go all the way but well worth a second glance at 15/2 to win the fourth quarter.
Bully Boy is back in the winner’s enclosure, triumphant in a Tour event in Barnsley earlier this month, his second title of 2021.
*All odds correct at time of writing.
