Fallon Sherrock's stunning £501,000 victory over world number one Luke Littler in Netflix's 'Beat Luke Littler' has sparked a fierce debate, with former hockey players Ellen Hoog and Naomi van As questioning whether Sherrock should have been allowed to compete. Sherrock, who took down Littler with a brilliant 15-dart leg on tops after winning the bull, capitalised on an off-leg by 'The Nuke' to claim the second biggest payday in darts following Littler's world championship win at the start of the year.
Hoog, speaking on a podcast for Sportnieuws.nl, pointed to Sherrock's professional status as the crux of the controversy. "There was a lot of criticism," Hoog said. "She has played in a World Championship in the past and has been a professional darts player. That is also stated in her bio on X." She added: "People thought they were only going to invite unprofessional darts players who occasionally throw a dart in the pub. Then Sherrock wins." Sherrock was one of 20 players called up for the show, a decision that drew heavy criticism for Netflix, along with inviting the likes of Mitchell Lawrie. While they fit the bill in terms of not having Tour Cards, fans were led to believe that amateurs would be facing off against the two-time world champion—a category Sherrock, who has won matches at Ally Pally before, does not fit.
Van As, however, directed the blame squarely at the organisers rather than Sherrock. "Actually, she can't enjoy that 501,000 pounds. She was forced to give a response. She had to defend herself, but she can't help it. It is the organisation that decided this. But it is nice, of course: it is a lot of money." Hoog then wondered aloud how much Littler himself is earning from the production. "Well, this is a Netflix production. That could well be a few million."
The criticism follows comments from PDC president Barry Hearn, who defended the decision-making behind the event. Hearn questioned the alternative: "do we have to field a bunch of pub darts players who can't even finish a leg? That isn't fun either. They should have stated the criteria much more clearly beforehand." The debate has raged since Sherrock pinned double 20, with the darts world split over whether a player of her pedigree should have been pitted against Littler in a format marketed around amateur hopefuls.