Fallon Sherrock booked a Grand Slam of Darts debut and put herself in pole position for a World Darts Championship return after a stellar showing at the PDC Women’s Series in Milton Keynes.
One week on from a spectacular run to the Nordic Darts Masters final where she was beaten by Michael van Gerwen, Sherrock was back amongst a host of female players who gathered at the Marshall Arena and after a titanic struggle with four-time women's world champion Lisa Ashton it was Sherrock who emerged triumphant.
Ashton led the weekend Order of Merit by £50 going into Sunday's final event and the pair battled their way through the field to contest the final - the third time in the day's three events they had won through to face each other for the winner's prize, Ashton having won the first two
In fact Ashton had been the only player to beat Sherrock over the course of the weekend, a last-16 contest on Saturday alongside the two finals, but Sherrock had her moment and produced a blistering display to average just short of 100 in a 5-0 win over the Lancashire Rose.
It meant that the Queen of the Palace overhauled her opponent on the Order of Merit to win a place at the Grand Slam of Darts in Leicester in November - a tournament that she has yet to feature in.
The pair's domination over the weekend means they are comfortably clear of the rest of the field in the race for the two World Championship places on offer at the end of the Women's Series which concludes in Barnsley at the end of October.
Between them, Ashton and Sherrock claimed all six events played over the weekend at the Marshall Arena, and their titanic battle was a fitting finale to the start of the PDC's most significant Women's Series to date, with 12 events across four days of competition in September and October, with £60,000 in prize money on offer
Ashton had looked poised to hit back on Sunday after Sherrock had taken top billing on Saturday, winning two of the three titles on offer after Ashton had claimed the first.
So it was no surprise to see the pair hit the ground running on Sunday, Ashton beating Sherrock in the first final of the day with both women averaging more than 90 before the high-profile pair battled in Sunday's second final.
It was Ashton - who had averaged 104 to beat Deta Hedman in the quarter-final and 102 to sink Anastasia Dobromyslova in the semi-final - who produced the fireworks to reel off four legs in succession for a 5-2 victory and crucially to move £50 ahead of Sherrock in the weekend's Order of Merit.
With the first Grand Slam of Darts place on the line, the pair battled through after a gruelling weekend to contest the sixth final of the weekend, where Sherrock's super show was enough to seal her Grand Slam spot
The 27-year-old from Milton Keynes - who made history when she beat Ted Evetts and Mensur Suljovic at the 2019 World Championship - will now focus on October's next weekend of Women's Series action to secure her Alexandra Palace return having missed out last year.
Six more events take place over two days at the Barnsley Metrodome where a second Grand Slam spot will be up for grabs - and Ashton will be the heavy favourite after her displays this week.
Also on the line in South Yorkshire will be two places at the World Championship - and Ashton and Sherrock have put themselves in the box seat after a high class weekend from the pair that left them well clear of the rest of the field.
Darts is back on your Sky Sports screens in October, with seven days of World Grand Prix action from Leicester's Morningside Arena get underway on Sunday October 3 - join us from 6pm on Sky Sports Arena.