"I don’t think any lady will ever go to Ally Pally and win that" - Beau Greaves urges PDC to create Women's World Darts Championship after World Matchplay success

Beau Greaves continues to rule women's darts. The 20-year-old Englishwoman was too strong for Fallon Sherrock in the final of the 2024 Women's World Matchplay on Sunday afternoon in Blackpool.

This is the second year in a row Greaves has triumphed at the Winter Gardens. "I just feel proud of myself. I don't care who you are, it's difficult to go up there and defend a title that you've won the year before. Everyone's got a target on your back," Greaves reflected post-match. "I just feel really happy."

Throughout the tournament, Greaves got better and better, going from 75 average in her first match to 88 in her semifinal and just below 100 in the final, when she really needed her best darts. "The final was a decent game between me and Fallon," she recalls. "It was just about settling myself down."

Greaves also qualified for the Grand Slam of Darts thanks to this victory. Last year, she narrowly missed qualifying from the group stage there. Greaves trounced Ricardo Pietreczko, but suffered narrow, deciding leg defeats to Damon Heta and Nathan Aspinall. As the Englishwoman has noted in the past however, playing against the man isn't something that totally fills her with joy.

"I just don’t think we will ever be good enough to play against the likes of Luke Humphries, Michael Van Gerwen or Luke Littler," she says. "You’re facing a losing battle before you’ve even thrown a dart."

As such, Greaves will again opt for the Women's World Championship at the Lakeside instead of the PDC World Darts Championship at the Alexandra Palace later this year. "I think for me, the women’s game is more important," the explains. "I don’t think any lady will ever go to Ally Pally and win that. You are literally being silly if you think that’s possible. I know how I can play but it doesn’t necessarily happen on the day. Men are just more consistent. You have to be realistic and ask if it’s going to go anywhere."

"For me personally, playing at Alexandra Palace, some people dream of that sort of stuff, I never did so when I got there it wasn’t amazing to me as it was to other people, maybe I am being ungrateful. I am more of a ladies player, that’s why I choose Lakeside over other stuff because I am just more comfortable there," she continues. "When I go to the Grand Slam I don’t look forward to it because I know I have got to play men. I don’t fancy my chances at all – I am just realistic. You have to be realistic and ask if it’s going to go anywhere. I think we deserve it, there is space for it in the sport. We are not going to be as good as the men so you have to think if they are going to take the risk with us and have their own World Championship. It would be great. They do a Matchplay, why not do that side of it?"