"It doesn’t get much better than him, does it?" - Beau Greaves' transition to the PDC Tour aided by 'incredible' Littler victory

These last few years, Beau Greaves has lit up darts, becoming a trailblazer in the women's game with her transition over to the PDC Tour already proving to be a success. One of the standout moments that gave her a huge confidence boost to go and achieve what she has done was defeating the world number one Luke Littler in the semi-finals of the PDC World Youth Championship.

It came right after Littler thrashed Luke Humphries to win the World Grand Prix, asserting his name at the top of darts while sending an ominous sign to his rivals, all fearful of what he would do next. It turns out that the then 18-year-old was eyeing up the World Youth Championship title. The likes of reigning champion Gian van Veen and Greaves were also in action in Wigan with the two finalists set to play in Minehead in tandem with the Players Championship Finals.

Littler was the overwhelming favourite to win and faced 'Beau 'n' Arrow' in the semi-finals. It went the distance with an 11-darter from Greaves getting the job done. She had averaged 105 compared to Littler's 107.4, keeping tabs with the world champion before leaving the best until last to confirm her spot in the final.

'The Nuke,' who won the title in 2023, had this to say after the defeat. "Fair play to Beau. All the best in Minehead. Some talent." Greaves would go on to lose to van Veen in the final but the win over Littler was one to savour nonetheless.

Speaking on the Weekly Dartscast, Greaves reminisced about that special day. To be fair, I played really well throughout the whole day," she recalled. "I remember from my first game through to playing Luke, I was really steady and consistent."

Her ambitions were clear but also a sense of realism came about with Littler competing. "Obviously, knowing Luke was there, you’re kind of expecting him to just smash everybody, and he was doing that. I didn’t know I was going to play him at that point, but the game was obviously incredible."

It was a game of high quality, in which Greaves prevailed. "I think I played really well and he played really well, so I think that kind of made it good as well," she said. "When I beat him, he had played extremely well. It wasn’t his best game, as we know, but he had still played to a really difficult standard to beat."

Since then, Greaves has taken to the PDC Tour like a duck to water. She has become the first woman to win a Players Championship title while also debuting on the European Tour, defeating Daryl Gurney in Prague to make more history. Eighth in the race to Minehead, while set to once more feature in the Grand Slam of Darts, she has the potential to kick on and achieve so much more.

Going back to the 6-5 win over Littler in Wigan, that seemed to be a catalyst for everything that she has achieved. "Beating him, in a weird way, gave me a lot of confidence. It made me think that maybe I could actually start believing in myself a bit more and go on to play on the Pro Tour. It made me think that you can beat literally anybody because, you know, it doesn’t get much better than him, does it? Sometimes I’ve just got to remind myself that I can do it when things are going wrong.

"But yeah, the game was amazing, and the crowd was massive as well. There were a lot of people watching that game, so it’s a good memory to look back on."

That was the day in which she was confirmed to be a Tour Card holder for 2026. In only her first year on tour, she sits 70th in the Post World Championship Order of Merit.

"I’d obviously gone into that weekend knowing that I was in one of the spots," she contined. "I think I knew that if I got in, I would have a Tour Card, but I didn’t know I’d actually got it until I’d finished playing that day. My sister went on Facebook and said, 'You’ve got your Tour Card,' and I was like, 'Oh, nice. I didn’t know. Oh, great,' kind of thing. Then, obviously, going in the next day, people were congratulating me. It was amazing, but I felt like I was ready for it in a way."

She has always done things at her own speed, never rushing into anything. "Like I say, I’ve always done things at my own pace, but I suppose there comes a time when you have to push yourself and start backing yourself. That’s something I’ve learned since having a Tour Card: you have to believe in yourself, and you have to believe you can win all the time. It’s something I’m still kind of convincing myself to believe in."

That belief is paying off, but there is still so much more to achieve and learn. "I think darts is just such a hard game to play consistently, but I’m getting there. It’s going well. I would never have not taken it, so yeah, it’s gone really well. You’ve just got to believe in yourself, haven’t you?"