Beau Greaves has opened up on the pivotal moment that convinced her she belonged on the PDC Tour — a stunning 6-5 victory over world number one Luke Littler in the semi-finals of the PDC World Youth Championship in Wigan. The win, sealed with an 11-darter, saw Greaves average 105 compared to Littler's 107.4, and it came just days after Littler had thrashed Luke Humphries to win the World Grand Prix.
Speaking on the Weekly Dartscast, Greaves recalled: "To be fair, I played really well throughout the whole day. I remember from my first game through to playing Luke, I was really steady and consistent." She admitted she hadn't expected to face Littler, saying: "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."
Littler, who won the title in 2023, was gracious in defeat, saying: "Fair play to Beau. All the best in Minehead. Some talent." Greaves went on to lose to Gian van Veen in the final, but the win over Littler proved a catalyst. "Beating him, in a weird way, gave me a lot of confidence," she said. "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."
That same day, Greaves was confirmed as a Tour Card holder for 2026. She recalled: "I'd obviously gone into that weekend knowing that I was in one of the spots. 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."
Since then, Greaves has become the first woman to win a Players Championship title and has debuted on the European Tour, defeating Daryl Gurney in Prague. She sits eighth in the race to Minehead and is set to feature in the Grand Slam of Darts once more. Reflecting on her journey, she said: "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."
In only her first year on tour, Greaves sits 70th in the Post World Championship Order of Merit. "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?" she added.
