The King of Darts downed by Queen of the Palace: Fallon Sherrock wins Beat Luke Littler to scoop £501,000 as World No.1 taken down in Manchester

The King of Darts has been defeated by the Queen of the Palace, as Fallon Sherrock has won £501,000 and has defeated Luke Littler on the big stage to make history again in the darting world.

Seven years on from her great darting feat in which she defeated multiple male players to win matches at the Ally Pally, which gave her the moniker of the Queen of the Palace, Sherrock is back with more history-making exploits.

Albeit it never hugely looked on the cards prior to that, with only one player taking Littler the distance. It was in fact Pearse Mackle who was one of the early contenders, and he missed the bull to seal the leg and win the £501,000.

Certain players were left waiting, including Mitchell Lawrie, who it would be presumed would've been the other player to push Luke Littler close, as well as Jasper Scarrott, who was also seen as one of the favourites.

Sherrock won the fan vote, seeing off Jarod Becker with 75% of the vote, and she managed to win the bull. She hit a tonne to start and was solid throughout, hitting a 180 to leave 43. Littler had no answer as Sherrock hit 43 and sealed the win with her son, who had never watched her play live before watching on. A great story for the iconic Queen of the Palace.

Littler started off proceedings against Kasey Smith, who was the lowest-ranked seed in the tournament, but he made light work of the pub worker, hitting treble 10 and double 20 to breeze through. Tony Cole followed, who had never actually played on a stage or in a tournament but was one of the better players on paper. Littler hit 140 to leave 67 and missed double 20, but he returned to seal it. Zac Spain, who is a jockey from Australia, awaited, and while he gave Littler a sterner test, he went 3/20 up.

The big examination on paper came from a certain Jayden Walker with the 14-year-old beating Luke Humphries in an exhibition and being seen as the next cab off the rank alongside Mitchell Lawrie in terms of players to trouble him. But nerves got the better of him realistically as Littler raised his game accordingly.

He went blockbuster, hitting a 180 and a 158 to humble the wannabe challenger. Katie Sheldon won the first fan vote, but she came and went. Ironically following that, it was Taylon Forrester, who is a bin man from Bedford, hence the name The Trash Man, who gave him the sternest test as he hit a tonne for the first visit and looked adept at the task despite him being one of the lower seeds. But LIttler turned on the turbo and hit double 10 to lead. This was before Mackle missed the bull as he missed it, and then Littler hit 48 to rip it away.

Mark Pooke, who started the night as the player with the best leg to win through, was next, and he couldn't topple him, missing 138, and Littler hit double 10 for 9/20. Zac Griffiths then came and went as Littler put the Boy in the Corner, who had been described by Darts Draait Door co-host Damian Vlottes as a pest and a nightmare on the Oche. But no antics, as Littler averted losing the bull to win through.

Following that, Makinley Cooper-Johnson as well as Lauren Bloomfield have some of the more interesting stories. The former was 14 years old and full of confidence, while the latter works in Nando's as a manager. But both fell to Littler, who was there to be got at with his average going from 100 to 80. This is where the issue then arose, as despite seeing off David Wawrzewski, he then had to face Sherrock, who now wins perhaps the money she would've won had Covid not happened, and she was denied the post World Championship year that she thought she'd have.