On Wednesday, Sherrock began the final stage by suffering a 6-1 defeat to American Danny Lauby, and after a second early loss, the 'Queen of the Palace' is now firmly up against it to earn a tour card.

On Thursday, Sherrock started well against former BDO Youth world champion Richardson, son of former PDC player James Richardson, going 2-0 ahead, but was then broken back and fell 5-3 behind before recovering to force a leg decider, which she ultimately lost to fall to a 6-5 defeat.

Sherrock is bidding to become just the second woman, after Lisa Ashton in 2020, to win a PDC Tour Card and join the 128-strong Pro Tour.

One of 128 players competing for 32 places, Sherrock has yet to win a game in the final stage and will now likely have to dig deep on Friday and Saturday in further, albeit slim, opportunities.

On Tuesday, Sherrock booked safe passage through to the final stage with a 5-2 victory over Wes Newton.

After a first-round defeat on Sunday, followed by a loss in her third match on Monday, Sherrock knew she needed big performances on Tuesday or she would be eliminated.

The 27-year-old started with a 5-0 whitewash over Robert Whybrew, then defeated Kevin Lane 5-1, before seeing off the 'The Warrior' Newton, in a win which ensured she would get through via the First Stage Order of Merit. Her run was eventually ended at the last-32 stage by Scott Marsh, who prevailed in a last-leg decider.

Ashton suffers early loss too

After a promising start to day one of the Final Stage, winning two games, Lisa Ashton - like Sherrock - fell to defeat in her first match of the second day too, losing 6-2 to Alan Tabern.

'The Lancashire Rose' made a solid start to her bid to regain her PDC Tour Card as she averaged over 90 in beating Nick Fullwell and Josh McCarthy on Wednesday, but her form dipped and she eventually bowed out 6-4 to Gary Blades.

The four-time women's darts champion saw her dreams of a run at the PDC World Championship thwarted at the first-round stage by Dutchman Ron Meulenkamp last month.

Demolition Man wins event

Darren Webster, a two-time World Championship quarter-finalist, will return immediately to the PDC ProTour this year, having dropped out of the top 64 following a difficult two years.

The 53-year-old from Norwich defeated former Grand Slam of Darts champion Scott Waites in the final, winning 6-1.

Belgium's Brian Raman, meanwhile, will compete on the PDC circuit as a professional for the first time this year after he mounted a remarkable comeback in the European Qualifying School's Day Two decider, coming from 4-0 down to defeat Dutch-born American ace Jules van Dongen 6-4.

Both Waites and Van Dongen sit well-placed on the respective Qualifying School Orders of Merit going into the final two days as they bid to secure their Tour Cards.

Waites is joined by Richie Burnett, Mickey Mansell, Cameron Menzies and Jamie Clark on five points in the UK standings, with Ted Evetts amongst five players on four points.

Q School explained

Over 650 players are competing in the 2022 PDC Qualifying Schools from January 9-15, with 32 Tour Cards on offer for players to secure a spot on the PDC circuit for 2022 and 2023.

The competitions are split between Milton Keynes and Niedernhausen in Germany.

The first stage took place between January 9-11, with 128 players progressing to the final stage.

Eight players per day qualified automatically, with all further places going to players from a First Stage Order of Merit in each region.

A total of 32 PDC Tour Cards will be on offer in the final stage from January 12-15, with each of the daily winners in the UK and Europe receiving an automatic Tour Card. On Wednesday, James Wilson secured an immediate return to the ProTour, as he defeated Sherrock's partner Cameron Menzies 6-1 to comfortably ensure his return to the professional circuit.

The remaining 24 Tour Cards will be allocated to players from the UK and European Q School Final Stage Orders of Merit, and split on a pro-rata basis of total participants in each region.

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