Greaves

Beau Greaves emerged victorious from a 6-5 thriller against Luke Littler as she became the first woman to reach the final of the World Youth Championship.

Littler came into the tournament on the back of his 6-1 demolition of world number one Luke Humphries in the World Grand Prix final on Sunday.

The 18-year-old had breezed through his three matches in the round-robin phase of the event, with wins over Dutchman Jeffrey Keen, Iceland’s Alexander Thorvaldsson and Belgium’s Matthias Moors.

However, the world champion put in a below-par last-16 display against fellow Englishman Charlie Manby.

Littler was on the brink of defeat at 5-3 down to the 20-year-old, before winning the next three legs, then rediscovered his touch in the quarter-finals with a 6-1 victory over Jamai van den Herik of the Netherlands.

Warrington teenager Littler found himself 2-1 down in the semi-final against Greaves but responded by winning three consecutive legs to seize the upper hand.

But three-time WDF women’s world champion Greaves – who is set to accept a PDC Tour card for 2026-27 – rallied to level the match at 4-4 and 5-5.

Greaves then blew Littler away in the decider as she threw an 11-dart leg – the 21-year-old from Doncaster sealing victory with a checkout of 80.

She will meet defending champion Gian van Veen in next month’s final after the Dutchman, 23, clinched a 6-4 win over Sebastian Bialecki of Poland in the other semi-final.

The World Youth Championship final will be played on 23 November in Minehead, before the Players Championship final on the same day.

Littler, who averaged 107.4 to Greaves’ 105, posted on Instagram after his defeat: “Fair play to Beau. All the best in Minehead. Some talent.”

Players aged between 16 and 24 are eligible to compete in the World Youth Championship.

Littler won the youth title in 2023 aged 16, a few weeks before he burst into the spotlight by finishing runner-up at the 2024 World Championship.

BEAU GREAVES has put her World Darts Championships ambitions at risk after pulling out of FIVE tournaments this weekend.

Greaves is currently the leader on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit after winning two of the first five tournaments in January.

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But the 21-year-old star has put her lead at risk after skipping Germany‘s Tour 6-10.

It is not known why Greaves has withdrawn.

But it could cost her dearly in the long run – particularly at the end of the season.

The two highest ranked players will receive an invitation to the World Championships and receive a PDC Tour Card for the next two seasons.

But Greaves might not be planning to play at Ally Pally anyway.

The 21-year-old can’t play at the World Championships later this year if she opts to defend her women’s WDF world title.

If Greaves wants to compete at Ally Pally, she would have to forego defending her women’s title, which she won in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Speaking last year, she said: “It’s a shame they make you choose. I don’t understand that.

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“I don’t know why they do. I think it’s stupid. I wouldn’t go on and win Ally Pally.

“I’d give it a good crack and see if I played well. But, ultimately, I want to be a ladies’ world champion and we’ll see if I can do that again in December.”

Women’s world No.1 Greaves attempted to earn a PDC Tour Card in January.

She headed to Q-School in Milton Keynes, but fell in the second round to Carl Sneyd.

Greaves plays in the Women’s Series and will be favourite to win the Women’s World Matchplay in Blackpool for a third successive time in July.

She came within three legs of producing the greatest darts performance by a woman on TV at the UK Open last month.

The Doncaster thrower, 21, went toe-to-toe with world No.1 Luke Humphries in their fourth-round clash at Butlin’s Minehead.

But in the closing stages on the main stage, she came up just short, as Humphries succeeded 10-7.

The pair embraced on the stage, shared a long hug in a huge sign of respect and then Humphries raised her hand before the crowd.

Luke Humphries fought back to claim a 10-7 victory and end Beau Greaves’ history-making run at the UK Open.

Women’s world number one Greaves became the first female player to reach the fourth round of the tournament with wins against Stefan Bellmont, Rhys Griffin and Mickey Mansell earlier on Friday.

The 21-year-old then led 7-5 against the men’s world number one, but Humphries won five successive legs to secure his place in the last 16.

“She belongs in big-time darts,” Humphries told ITV4 afterwards.

“She belongs in this environment. She really did test me there and if we were in a Premier League game she would have beaten me.”

Greaves, the reigning three-time women’s world champion, opened with a 126 checkout before taking out 124 to break for a 2-0 lead.

But Humphries worked his way back and, after his win, he called Greaves back to the stage and the pair bowed together in front of the crowd at Butlin’s Minehead Resort.

“To play Luke, he’s amazing, and for me and my game it will bring me on a long way,” said Greaves, who averaged 93.60 to Humphries’ 103.40.

“I’m watching these sorts of players all the time on the telly so it’s nice to be here. Honestly, I just enjoyed watching him throw.”

Earlier on Friday, Jonny Clayton beat Gary Anderson 10-3 before men’s world champion Luke Littler edged past Peter Wright.

Teenager Littler threw away 7-4 and 9-7 leads as Wright made a late charge to move level at 9-9.

Facing a chance to wrap up the victory with a 170 checkout, Littler was jeered after taking a safety-first approach and firing into the 10 bed.

The 18-year-old shook his finger and mouthed “not a chance” to the crowd before eventually sealing the win with an average of 108.69.

Three-time champion Michael van Gerwen defeated fellow Dutchman Dirk van Duijvenbode 10-8, while Gerwyn Price lost 10-9 to Connor Scutt.

BEAU GREAVES revealed she is not looking forward to competing with Luke Littler and co. at the Grand Slam of Darts.

The youngster qualified for the tournament by winning the Women’s World Matchplay in the summer.

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Greaves is now the highest-ranked female darts player but she is not looking forward to brushing shoulders with the likes of Littler and Luke Humphries on TV.

There is a £150,000 jackpot up for grabs but Greaves feels she is not consistent enough to win it.

She said: “People know I’m not keen on playing the lads on telly but it’s a good opportunity for me.

“I had a decent year there last year so hopefully I can get comfortable on the stage. It’s difficult for me to play but I look forward to it. I’ll practice well for it and see how it goes.

“I just don’t feel as if I can win it. People say I’m stubborn, people say whatever they want, but I know how good I can be and what I’m like most of the time. It’s about that consistency and most of the ladies don’t have the consistency to compete with the men.

“I’m there, I’ve qualified for it so I’ll play it. It’s not something I look forward to and it’s not something I necessarily want to play in but the opportunity is there. I’ll give it my best crack.

“I’ll always try my best and give it 100 per cent on stage but maybe I should learn from that by being more positive about playing in it, but it’s just not what I like playing in.”

Greaves, 20, is even sitting out of the World Darts Championship in December as she wants to defend her WDF Women’s World Championship, which she has won for the previous two years.

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She added: “I have won the ladies’ World Championship back to back now and I don’t want to miss out on the chance of retaining that title, so that is all it comes down to.

“Hopefully, I can go back to Ally Pally in years to come, but right now I want to focus on ladies’ darts.”

One player who will feature at Ally Pally is Noa-Lynn van Leuven, who will become the first transgender darts star to play in the World Darts Championship.

Van Leuven recently hit out at her peers on the women’s tour, claiming some hold conservative views.

She said: “They secretly tell me that they don’t understand the commotion.

“But there are a lot of conservative, toxic b****** on the women’s tour.

“They see me as a threat.”