“He’s ten times better than me” – Beau Greaves admits Luke Littler differential ahead of standout Grand Slam tie

Beau Greaves faces a special challenge on Saturday evening at the Grand Slam of Darts. The 22-year-old Englishwoman opens her campaign against Luke Littler, the reigning world champion and winner of the tournament’s last two editions. Greaves knows she is up against the outright favourite, but hopes to cause another upset.

The meeting between Littler and Greaves is one of the highlights of the opening day of the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton. Both players are in Group A alongside Dutchman Niels Zonneveld. Under the tournament’s revised format, only the group winner advances to the knockout stage.

It will be the first meeting between Littler and Greaves since last year’s World Youth Championship. On that occasion, Greaves defeated the current world number one.

Despite that previous victory, Greaves has great respect for Littler’s ability. The Englishwoman considers her compatriot the best darts player in the world. "I think he's the best [player in the world] in my eyes, I think he's fantastic to watch, he's been amazing, so I always imagine he's going to play really well,” Greaves told Sky Sports.

Greaves is determined not to underestimate her opponent. "I don't want to go in there thinking, 'oh he's not on form', or he's struggling, because then I would just be terrible, so I've got to go in there thinking 'he's going to absolutely smash me', and just play my game, and try and take any chance I can, and just enjoy it.”

Greaves is looking forward to the match with great enthusiasm. "I think it's going to be a good game just to watch, and just to be a part of it is special. I look forward to playing it.”

This will be Greaves’ fourth consecutive appearance at the Grand Slam of Darts. She won two matches across her first three campaigns, but has yet to make it through the group stage.

Last year, she impressed with strong performances against Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson. Despite averaging more than 100, she narrowly lost both matches.

Greaves believes her biggest area for improvement is maintaining a high level. "I played decent at the Grand Slam last year. I have good moments, but I just don't do it consistently enough.”

The Englishwoman sees her appearances at major televised tournaments mainly as a learning process. “It's something that, if I am going to do really well in the sport, I'm going to have to get better at. It's a challenge for me, but I look forward to it.”

Greaves is also trying to change her mindset. "I always look forward to kind of getting better and improving. I'm aware that obviously I'm not up to that standard as I do play on the floor, but it's just a work in progress at the minute, I would call it. But I'm just trying to look forward to everything rather than dread anything and obviously look forward to playing on stage rather than think I'd rather play on the floor. So, I'm just trying to switch it around a little bit."

The Grand Slam of Darts will feature 48 players for the first time this year. The number of groups has increased from eight to 16, while each group now has three players instead of four.

Only the group winner will advance to the last 16. As a result, a defeat in the opening match could have a major impact on a player’s qualification chances.

Greaves was barely aware of these changes beforehand. "I didn't know. I didn't have a clue that there was only three in the group! I don't know why they've done it really. It didn't make much sense to me, but again, I don't really know. It's just odd, but I suppose you've still got to do well to win your group regardless but it's different, I was a bit shocked.”

Although Greaves beat Littler last year, she certainly does not see herself as the favourite on Saturday. Still, she refuses to accept defeat before the match begins. "I know Luke's loads better than me, but I kind of have to at least convince myself I can win,” she said. "I can't go up there wanting to get beat but I know it's obviously, he's 10 times better than me, but strange to think about if you get beat."

Greaves knows Littler is best placed to win Group A. But she sees plenty of reason to give everything, even beyond the battle for first place. “Luke Littler is the heavy favourite to come through that group obviously, so it's strange, but there is a big jump in prize money if you finish second or third, so there's still a little bit to play for on the ranking, so just trying to not think about it and just try and enjoy every game, and try and do my best."