Beau Greaves retains WDF World Championship title

The 19-year-old, from Sprotbrough, breezed past Dutch star Aileen De Graaf in the final at the Lakeside Country Club.

Greaves, nicknamed Beau ‘n’ Arrow, did not lose a single set on her way to the final, defeating Lorraine Hyde, Paula Murphy and Rhian O'Sullivan.

She then secured a 4-1 win over De Graaf to seal back-to-back world titles and get her hands on the £25,000 winner’s cheque.

Greaves qualified for the Paddy Power PDC World Darts Championship, which starts this week, but turned down the invite in favour of defending her Lakeside crown.

Speaking after her victory in the final, Greaves said: "It feels great. It's still really weird being stood here after the whole week is done. Fair play to Aileen, she's a great player but I just got ahead at the right time. I enjoyed the game, and I'm just so happy to be stood here right now.

"When I went off in the break [after the fourth set] I told myself 'I just need to get ahead now' because I know what Aileen is like and she was going to bite on my ankles the whole way. My scoring was good, my doubles were ok, so I'm just relieved.

"I got on with it, and I'm really happy. She's absolutely amazing and it was a great game, I thought she would get me at some point in the New Year, and I'm happy to be stood here right now."

Greaves made her PDC World Championship debut last year – becoming the youngest ever female participant – on the back of an incredible 66-match winning streak.

She won 15 rankings titles on the World Darts Federation (WDF) tour in 2022, as well as a record eight consecutive tournaments on the PDC Women's Series.

Last month she pulled off a shock at the Grand Slam of Darts, beating world number 44 Ricardo Pietreczko 5-1.

She said afterwards: “I’m a young girl dipping my toes into this sort of stuff. If I win, I win. It’s just nice to get up on stage and feel comfortable and relaxed.”