"With me being the only girl on tour, he always makes a point to talk to me" - Beau Greaves recalls how Michael van Gerwen remembers playing her as a 12-year-old

Beau Greaves is backed by many to be a top darter and a trailblazer in women's darts. She has had a lot of support on her way to the top, including none other than Michael van Gerwen who still tries to talk with Greaves when the occasion arises after prior time together on the oche.

The pair go way back in time. While van Gerwen was becoming the dominant darter many know and respect today, Greaves was finding her feet in the sport at a very young age. Almost a decade ago, she was fortunate enough to meet van Gerwen as a 12-year-old .

She was heavily backed by the BBC after bursting onto the scene in 2016, becoming a hugely touted darter in the eyes of many. While she has gone on to live up to the hype, some special moments have occurred through that subsequent rise.

As part of her career when younger, she had the golden opportunity to step onto the oche with 'The Green Machine' and play him. Nine years later, things seemed to have worked out fine.

Greaves is a Tour Card holder and by far and away the best women darter on the planet having won 55 Women Series titles. That success spread like wildfire. She became the first women to win a PDC ranking title in Players Championship 11, taking out a spectacular 142 to defeat Michael Smith in a last-leg decider.

She has also enjoyed meetings on stage with some of the best players in the world. Along with playing at the PDC World Darts Championship and the UK Open, Greaves has been a regular in the Grand Slam of Darts. Having competed for the last three years, she was drawn in the same group as van Gerwen, averaging 101.47 before losing 5-4 in a very tight match enroute to being knocked out.

She reminisced over her first meeting with the three-time world champion while talking to talkSPORT. "It’s one of those things when I was younger and that photo was taken when the BBC was big on my back," she said.

“They were doing loads of things to promote me and stuff. I did a few documentaries which was great at the time. It got me the opportunity to play against Michael which looking back is strange.”

She was full of pride when facing van Gerwen at the Grand Slam, knowing that all the work put in had been worth it. “When I was in his group at the Grand Slam, I was like this is the time where it is all coming back into place. I have worked hard to get myself into that position, then be able to play, so that was nice."

What made it even more special for 'Beau 'n' Arrow' was the fact that van Gerwen remembered their first encounter at 2016, regularly speaking to her off stage. “It was funny because when I saw him at the time, he said he still remembered playing me, and it was great that I stuck with it and came through," she stated.

“Stuff like that, when you are 12, you don’t realise where you will be in ten years. I was so happy when I look back, I was in the position I was in, and I stuck with it. Now I am on the same tour as him and playing him, which is cool."

No other girl has got that treatment by the former world number one. “The thing is, with me being the only girl on tour, he always makes a point to talk to me, which I think is nice. I am the only girl there now, so it is different, I am not in with a lot of them. So it is nice he always says hi, I appreciate that.”