"When Beau Greaves turns up, we're all playing for second" – Deta Hedman senses chance to finally take elusive World Championship title at Lakeside

Deta Hedman battled through a dramatic three-set clash with Mikuru Suzuki on Wednesday night to reach the quarter-finals of the 2025 Women’s WDF World Championship — and the 66-year-old admitted afterwards that Beau Greaves’ absence has opened a rare window of opportunity in a tournament she has spent decades trying to win.

Hedman, seeded third this year, came from a set down to defeat the two-time world champion 2–1, surviving a string of tense moments before closing out the match with an 80 checkout. The win sets up a quarter-final meeting with teenage contender Sophie McKinlay, who booked her place earlier in the evening by beating Paige Pauling.

Hedman was brutally honest in her post-match interview about how close she felt to unraveling after losing the opening set to Suzuki. “When I went one set down to Mikuru, all I had in my head was, you know what, just win a leg,” she said. “If you’re going to lose, don’t lose to her without winning a leg. That hurts so much.”

Once she finally got on the board, Hedman said her only thought was to keep the pressure on. “If I can put the pressure on and she gives me a chance, you got to hit the double because you can’t really give Mikuru a second chance.”

Even in the deciding moments, she admitted the nerves were overwhelming. “My heart was jumping out of my head,” she said. “All I could hear was my heartbeat. I think if I miss it and we had to go to the next leg, I would have just fallen apart.”

Asked whether this run feels like another chance to chase the one major title that has always eluded her, Hedman was frank but philosophical. “After losing it three times, I don’t bother about looking at it whether I win it or not. I just look at each game. If I’m meant to win it, I will win it. And if I was never meant to win it, it won’t happen.”

With Greaves focusing on the PDC circuit and skipping Lakeside this year, the draw has a very different feel — something Hedman acknowledged with characteristic candour.

“When Beau pulled out, I think we had this discussion last year. I said she needs to challenge herself, because when she turns up at the ladies, we’re all playing for second place,” Hedman said.

She stressed that Greaves remains the benchmark for the women’s game, and that without her, the title picture has opened up in a way rarely seen in recent years. “As I said, she’s the first woman on the planet that I know can go out there and mix it with the men and the best of the men,” Hedman added. “But again, this time around, any of us is capable of winning it.”

Hedman was quick to praise Greaves’ breakthrough on the PDC Tour, insisting her game is already strong enough to compete at the highest level of the sport.

“She’s got that ability,” Hedman said. “Sometimes when she plays it just makes us look so silly… up to the age of 25, I think she could do very, very well in the PDC.”

She also hopes Greaves’ presence on the tour helps shift attitudes. “Some of the men don’t like playing women no matter how good they are. So I’m hoping they don’t want to play women — so Beau can bash them up.”

Hedman now prepares for a last-eight tie with Sophie McKinlay, the 19-year-old Scot who reached last year’s final. McKinlay overcame double trouble and a tense deciding set to beat Paige Pauling earlier in the session, winning the final leg with her eighth match dart.

Hedman, meanwhile, is simply relieved to have cleared what she described as the “first hurdle” — and to still be swinging despite the nerves, the pressure and the ever-increasing strength of the field.

“I’m just pleased that I can still throw decent darts in the ladies’ game,” she said. “There are some good young guns coming through… but I still enjoy what I do anyway.”