Beau Greaves became the first woman to win a PDC ranking title with a historic 8-7 victory over Michael Smith in last night’s Players Championship Eleven final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Greaves won seven straight matches in Milton Keynes which included a sensational deciding-leg victory over Smith in the showpiece to seal a landmark victory in darts history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two-time Women’s World Matchplay champion took down a trio of former World Champions en route to the title, including Rob Cross, Gary Anderson and Smith in her final three matches of the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 22-year-old kicked off her campaign by defying a ton-plus average from Aden Kirk with a 6-4 win, before sealing victory against Thomas Lovely by the same scoreline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Greaves then averaged in excess of 97 in her following two triumphs, defeating Jeffrey Sparidaans and Czech number one Karel Sedlacek to reach a third consecutive Players Championship quarter-final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There, Greaves produced a sparkling 102.56 average to edge past Cross – who averaged almost 106 in defeat – taking out an 11-dart break of throw in a scintillating last-leg decider to advance to her first ProTour semi-final. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The PDC Women’s Series leader then averaged 105.56 in a sensational 7-1 thrashing of Anderson, reeling off seven consecutive legs to ease past the two-time World Champion and set up a pivotal showdown with Smith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite trailing 2-0, Greaves caught fire by rattling off five straight legs, all coming in 15 darts or less in a run sparked by a 121 finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith then took out a 12-darter to threaten a comeback, but Greaves pulled out a show-stopping 170 finish to put herself two legs from a consequential victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Smith tenaciously rallied, claiming three legs on the spin to level the contest at 6-6 and set up a dramatic three-leg shootout. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both players claimed a leg each to take the match to a last-leg decider, where Greaves was first to a finish, but Smith pulled out an exceptional 142 set-up shot to leave double ten for his first ranking title in almost two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Greaves sensationally held her nerve, taking out a marvellous 142 checkout on double 11 to seal a momentous triumph for herself and the sport in claiming the Event Eleven title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Today I played really well. I’m so happy. I cannot even describe the way I feel,” professed an emotional Greaves, who produced a stellar average of 98.13 across the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I don’t know whether I just thought about being the first woman to win a [ProTour] title but it caught up with me, so I honestly cannot believe I took out that 142!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s unbelievable. I feel so proud of myself, because I was really struggling at the start of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Aside from winning the Lakeside, this is probably my best achievement ever. I never ever thought I’d win one of these!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’ve done really well on all the other tours. I know I’ve got the talent, but believing in yourself and having the confidence is another thing.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n “I’m beating players I was watching growing up. I’m in disbelief! Now hopefully I can kick on and keep doing it, but it’s an amazing feeling.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Smith fell short in the final, the 35-year-old had a campaign to remember, littered with resilient comeback wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The former World Champion began his campaign by recovering from 5-2 down against Marvin Kraft to win the last-leg shootout, surviving two match darts from the German in the decider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The St Helens star then fought back from 5-3 down against Sebastian Bialecki to emerge from another last-leg decider, before taking five legs on the spin after trailing 4-1 to see off number two seed Chris Dobey 6-4 to reach the last 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There, Smith defeated Challenge Tour leader Joe Hunt by rattling three straight legs to recover from 4-3 down, before winning yet another last-leg decider against Andrew Gilding in the quarter-finals, having initially trailed 5-4. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The former World Cup winner also reeled off six consecutive legs to defeat Kevin Doets 7-4 to reach his first ProTour final since May 6, 2024, despite falling short to Greaves in the showpiece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elsewhere, Anderson enjoyed a day to remember, reeling off a nine-dart leg in a 6-1 thumping of Alexander Merkx in round four as the Scot averaged north of 110. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The two-time World Champion backed up this performance with another tremendous 108.10 average over top seed Wessel Nijman in the quarter-finals, dumping out the Dutchman with a 6-3 win despite the 25-year-old averaging over 105 himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Doets reached his fourth ever Players Championship semi-final, recording two ton-plus averages in a string of victories that included the scalps of Polish number one Krzysztof Ratajski and Irish number one William O’Connor.\u00a0 Quarter-Finals<\/strong> Semi-Finals<\/strong> Final<\/strong> Beau Greaves became the first woman to win a PDC ranking title with a historic 8-7 victory over<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-12313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
RESULTS
Last 16<\/strong>
Wessel Nijman 6-1 Leon Weber
Gary Anderson 6-1 Alexander Merkx
Rob Cross 6-2 Ross Smith
Beau Greaves 6-4 Karel Sedlacek
Michael Smith 6-4 Joe Hunt
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Callan Rydz
William O’Connor 6-3 Cristo Reyes
Kevin Doets 6-1 Max Hopp<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gary Anderson 6-3 Wessel Nijman
Beau Greaves 6-5 Rob Cross
Michael Smith 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Kevin Doets 6-1 William O’Connor<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beau Greaves 7-1 Gary Anderson
Michael Smith 7-4 Kevin Doets<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beau Greaves 8-7 Michael Smith<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"