Somewhere in the middle of chatting about arrows, quiet moments, and why practising for hours feels pointless, Beau Greaves tosses out a line that sums up how she views herself in the darts universe: “Decent for a girl.”
Luke Littler would probably argue she’s selling herself massively short.
Their most recent collision at the World Youth Championships in Wigan back in October was supposed to be a bit of side entertainment for Littler — the 18-year-old who had already conquered the big stage at Alexandra Palace.
He had just bulldozed Luke Humphries to win the World Grand Prix the night before, so showing up at a youth event felt like he simply fancied a night out with the next generation.
But then Greaves walked into the picture.
When Greaves Stepped Up and Flipped the Script
Before she faced him, Littler had played Charlie Manby — and by someone’s reckoning, Manby should have taken him down. Greaves just laughs at that.
She remembers the numbers clearly: Littler averaged around 103 or 104 in that match.
“He’s just that good,” she tells it straight.
Watching him from behind, she says, is like watching someone breeze through something the rest of us would sweat over.
And then he did the same thing against her — except she didn’t fold.
Littler threw a ridiculous 107 average across their 11-leg semi-final. Even in a short format, that’s elite stuff.
But Greaves? She just shrugged and played out of her skin. And beat him, 6-5.
A few weeks down the line, same two players, this time in an exhibition in Derby — and Greaves walked away with it again, 6-2.
Not bad “for a girl,” then. In truth, she might already be the most naturally gifted female darter the sport has ever seen.
The Rise of Doncaster’s Quiet Superstar
Greaves didn’t win the youth final, but her record elsewhere speaks loudly enough:
86 straight victories on the women’s circuit and three straight women’s world titles.
Her reward? A PDC tour card — a chance to play regularly against the best men on the circuit. Nobody in the sport blinked.
They’ve been talking about her the same way they talk about Littler: a prodigy with a straight upward trajectory.
She threw her first darts at 10. Played for England at 12. Hit a nine-darter at 15.
The next big step is right around the corner: a return to the World Championships at Alexandra Palace.
Her first visit in 2022 ended quietly in round one.
This time, she walks in with far more eyes on her.
Getting Recognised… and Getting Trolled
Greaves says it’s still strange being noticed.
She tells a story about sitting in a restaurant booth while a couple in the next booth tried to sneak a photo with her in the background. “So funny,” she says, still amused.
The flip side, of course, is the online noise.
People comment on how she looks, how she plays — all the standard social-media rubbish.
“But it doesn’t bother me,” she says. “I’m happy in my life.”
A Shy Kid Who Found Her Voice at the Oche
You wouldn’t guess it from how she plays, but Greaves says she’s naturally shy.
Painfully shy, in fact.
As a small child, she spoke so little her teacher asked her mum if she might be mute.
Only in her mid-teens did she start to open up.
Darts did that. The oche became the one place she wasn’t afraid of noise or people watching.
Her dad and brother took her around the pub circuits of Doncaster, and that’s where her confidence took shape.
She’s had a few bumps — blurred vision in early teens (fixed with glasses, and eventually a Specsavers sponsorship), and a spell of darting yips just before Covid — but sexism hasn’t been a major obstacle, she says.
Some women muttered things, she recalls, but nothing serious.
As for the men she beat? “My dad and brother are big guys,” she laughs.
“I don’t think anyone wanted to start anything.”
The Not-So-Gruelling Training Regime
One thing that catches people off guard: she barely practises.
She finds it boring. If she doesn’t have someone to throw with, it becomes unbearable.
Half an hour a day is her usual routine — pretty much identical to Littler’s, funnily enough.
“I swear I never do more,” she says. Instead, she prefers taking the dog out, playing golf in the summer, and hanging around the pool table. A simple life is her sweet spot.
About that golf — she only picked it up a year ago and already plays off 14.
“Yeah,” she says, almost embarrassed. “I can hit a ball.”
Old Rivals, New Stakes
She and Littler first crossed paths five years ago — she was 16, he was 13 — and he won every time back then.
She remembers him the way everyone does: just a normal lad who happens to be unbelievably good at darts.
Now, he goes back to the Palace as defending world champion and the favourite for the £1m prize.
Greaves begins her own campaign against Daryl Gurney on December 19.
Winning a match at the Worlds, as Fallon Sherrock famously did in 2019, is the first goal. Could she go even further?
A Dream That No Longer Sounds Impossible
A few years ago, Greaves said the idea of a woman winning the whole thing felt “silly.”
Beating Littler — and pushing Michael van Gerwen to a deciding leg — gently rearranged that opinion.
She now thinks it’s not impossible. Very hard, yes. But not out of reach.
“I know I’ve got the game to beat anybody,” she says.
“It’s just doing it at the right time, in the right moment on that stage.
If I keep playing well, I wouldn’t say it’s impossible for me.”
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