Darts star Anastasia Dobromyslova slams stingy BDO for slashing the women’s prize fund
RAGING RUSSIAN Anastasia Dobromyslova has slammed stingy BDO for slashing the women’s prize fund. And the No.7 seed reckons the Fallon Sherrock effect has not transferred over to the BDO world darts championships. The three-time ladies world champion is angry bungling BDO chiefs have cut the winner’s money from a world record £20,000 fee to […]
RAGING RUSSIAN Anastasia Dobromyslova has slammed stingy BDO for slashing the women’s prize fund.
And the No.7 seed reckons the Fallon Sherrock effect has not transferred over to the BDO world darts championships.
The three-time ladies world champion is angry bungling BDO chiefs have cut the winner’s money from a world record £20,000 fee to just £8,000.
This follows poor ticket sales at the new venue of the Indigo nightclub at London’s O2 Arena and rising TV productions costs.
Sherrock, 25, is the poster-girl of this sport following her heroics at the PDC World Darts Championship before Christmas when she beat two men at Ally Pally – the first woman to beat men at the highest level.
Yet the First Lady of Darts pulled out of the tournament once the cut in the prize fund was publicly announced.
And asked if the lack of money was a kick in the teeth, Dobromyslova sarcastically answered: “I’ve no teeth left – is that a good enough answer? My teeth are false!
“It’s good for Fallon but it didn’t bring anything to us.
“My husband had to set-up a page to raise money for the ladies prize fund, which is ridiculous.
“I’m more concerned about the ladies prize fund than the arena. This is just another venue really.”
The GoFundMe page set up by her husband, player Tony Martin, has raised more than £1,800 in five days but that is not enough to make up the shortfall.
Dobromyslova, 35, reached the second round after beating Dutchwoman Sharon Prins 2-0 with a 64.51 average.
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She now faces defending champion Miruku Suzuki from Japan but berated herself for the poor first-round display.
The Ellesmere Port star raged: “Tony told me on the phone that ‘it’s probably the most you have done practice-wise for a really long time’.
“But I don’t know what happened on the stage. Hopefully I will get it right for Thursday evening – it cannot be worse than that surely?
“How many times I have been at Lakeside? Have you ever seen me play so badly?
“Seriously I’m disgusted. The only positive thing I can take is I’m still in the tournament. That’s the only positive.”