Beau Greaves - how far can darts' rising star go?

Rising darts star Beau Greaves has been described as 'world class' by the game's top player, so how far can she go on the biggest stage?

The 21-year-old begins her PDC World Championship campaign against 22nd seed Daryl Gurney at Alexandra Palace in London on Friday evening.

And despite losing on her only previous appearance at the tournament, she is rated odds-on favourite by bookmakers to beat Gurney, a World Cup winner with Northern Ireland, and reach the second round.

Greaves hit the headlines when defeating world champion Luke Littler in October to reach the World Youth Championship final. Interest in the contest was such that visitors almost crashed the online system offering score updates.

That came amid an unbeaten run of 86 matches in the Women's Series, which has provided five competitors in an expanded 128-player world championship.

Littler admitted he hoped to avoid the woman nicknamed 'Beau and Arrow' when the draw was made.

"Beau Greaves is definitely one that I wouldn't want to play," said Littler, who in January became the youngest world darts champion aged 17, told BBC Sport.

"She's world class, that's why she's won the Women's World Championship three times.

"She's been dominating the Women's Series for two or three years now and she's only going to get better and better."

Five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld has predicted a good run in the Worlds could see Greaves invited to the eight-player Premier League - although 2021 world champion Gerwyn Price described that suggestion as "a joke".

Only one woman has won matches on the world stage at the Ally Pally - Fallon Sherrock twice in December 2019 - while Greaves' debut three years ago ended in a first-round defeat by William O'Connor.

Down-to-earth Greaves started playing darts aged 10 on the board in her brother's bedroom - she even won a Blue Peter badge for her darting exploits - and watched Sherrock's wins in between playing Fortnite.

Despite her increasing profile, she is not getting carried away, still playing league matches at her local Doncaster social club.

Only last summer she wrote off the chances of any woman beating the top men consistently as she declined a place in the PDC World Championship for the second year running.

"Men's and ladies' darts should be separate. I don't think any lady will ever go to Ally Pally and win that. If you think that, you're being silly," she said in July 2024.

But finishing runner-up on the Development Tour, which has secured a two-year professional tour card, and impressive performances in televised tournaments have increased her confidence.

Asked if a woman could win the PDC world title, she now says: "You can't imagine it'll happen soon but you never know. I don't think it's impossible.

"I just think its probably going to take an extremely good run to do it, doing it consistently over a long format."

Her chance of lifting the trophy this time is perhaps reflected in odds of 100-1, with 14 players ahead of her in the betting pre-tournament, albeit Littler was a long shot when he reached the final for the first time in 2024.

Greaves has played well in recent matches against some of the top players, including a defeat by Gian van Veen in the World Youth final.

Before that, she won a match at the Grand Slam of Darts and took former world champions Gary Anderson and Michael van Gerwen to deciding legs before eventually losing.

Her three-dart average was better than Van Gerwen in that loss and she is in the top 20 for scoring in big tournaments this year.

"She's done it all on her own terms. She hasn't been rushed into it. She had the invitations to come here in the last couple of years but said no, she needed to hone her skills," says Laura Turner, a former Women's World Championship quarter-finalist.

"She's doing things that we haven't seen from a female player previously with as much regularity."

The 2024 champion and current world number two Luke Humphries believes Greaves will benefit from her professional tour debut next year, but must adapt to a relatively new experience... losing.

"She's an amazing player. But it's hard to judge her because she's not played on the main tour yet," said Humphries.

"I think the challenge will be she'll have to come to terms with losing a bit more."

Greaves is officially 120th in the PDC world rankings, which are based on prize money, and her ranking is likely to rise when she joins the main tour.

"In the ladies' series, winning every time, that feeling becomes repetitive. Once you step onto the main tour and you're losing a lot more it can knock your confidence," added Humphries.

"But she'll gain experience from it and playing against the best players week in, week out will make her a better player.

"If she's at this standard now, give her two or three years and I do think she'll be a top-32 player, maybe even top-16 or close to it. She's got a great throw, good temperament, she's good under pressure as well."

As for this World Championship, Greaves would face world number 42 Callan Rydz in round two should she overcome Gurney, with 11th seed Josh Rock a potential third-round opponent.

"Fallon Sherrock got through a couple of rounds, but Beau Greaves could go further," says Matt Edgar, who made three PDC World Championship appearances.

"She could go deep, she's got the levels, I wouldn't be surprised in a few years if we are talking about Beau Greaves being one of the favourites coming into this event once she's gained a little more experience.

"She's shown she can compete with the very best in the world."