World Matchplay champion Peter Wright has called for the top two female darts players – including Fallon Sherrock – to receive a Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) Tour card.
Wright will play Sherrock this evening for a place in the semi-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts.
Sherrock has broken a number of records on her way to the last eight. She recorded the highest televised average by a woman – 101.55 – during her 5-0 whitewash of Mike de Decker.
The 27-year-old then became the first woman to reach a PDC major ranking quarter-final, defeating Mensur Suljović 10-5.
Wright, currently world number two, has praised Sherrock and called for the winner of the Women’s Series to be awarded a PDC Card.
"It is disappointing for the top two women not to [earn a card] because they’ll want to raise their game to higher levels," Wright said.
"Obviously they are going to be playing higher levels every single game. They know they have got to [throw] 90 odd, 95 plus and tons all the time.
"No disrespect to all the other ladies that are coming through and trying, but Lisa [Ashton] and Fallon are the ones who are doing 100 averages, 90 averages all the time.
"That [earning a tour card] will only improve their darts, so hopefully the rules change and they can get a tour card."
If Sherrock beats Wright this evening, she will provisionally move into the world's top 60, and be in a position to claim an automatic PDC Tour Card in 2022.
It will be a hard task though – Wright defeated Sherrock 5-1 when the pair met in the group stage of the tournament earlier this month.
Wright has been less than convincing since, however, losing to Gabriel Clemens and only just winning against Jose De Sousa in the last 16. Sherrock goes into the encounter with the higher tournament average.
Sherrock first made history in 2019, becoming the first ever woman to win a match at the PDC World Championships after defeating Ted Evetts 3-2 in the opening round.
She went on to defeat Suljović 3-1 in the second round, but eventually lost 4-2 in the third round to Chris Dobey.
Her achievements saw her nicknamed "Queen of the Palace" after darts venue Alexandra Palace, and she received praise from tennis legend Billie Jean King and actress Sarah Jessica Parker.
Sherrock made headlines once again at the Nordic Darts Masters in September. She became the first woman to reach a televised PDC final – eventually losing to three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen at the Nordic Darts Masters.