Henderson lauds praise on Ashton and Sherrock: "As far as I'm concerned, the women's status is gone"

John Henderson claimed his opening win of the 2021 Grand Slam of Darts to send his fate into his match with Michael van Gerwen.

Henderson defeated Lisa Ashton who is a good friend of the popular Highlander and for him, the women's status has firmly gone.

"I think when you go into this Grand Slam, if you lose your first game pressure's on straight from the start. I'm playing Lisa, a very good friend of mine. As far as I'm concerned, Lisa and Fallon the women's status is gone. They are now with us men. I knew the crowd was going to be with Lisa," said Henderson post match.

"It was good to get over that line as it was a hard game. I need to clean up on my finishing, my scoring has always been there."

Learning a lot from Wright, onto Van Gerwen clash

He also discussed his maiden major triumph at the World Cup as well as like alluded to battling for survival against Michael van Gerwen.

"It was fantastic playing with Peter (Wright). I learnt a lot playing with Robert last year but playing with Peter, he was fantastic with me. He's given me some good advice and I've taken it on board. If you can't take anything from winning a major, you'll never take anything."

"I've got the main man (Van Gerwen) on Tuesday. I'm up for it. He's fantastic, I love him to bits as a person and as far as I'm concerned, he's the best player on the planet."