Beau Greaves: The super-calm Doncaster lass who's taking the darting world by storm
It's hard work being a professional darts player in this day and age. The rewards are plentiful - as good as they have ever been - but the graft and practice has to be put in to stay relevant and remain a part of the PDC tour.
And as well as travelling to various tournaments dotted all across the world there's also ample media commitments that they have to honour. It can be a relentless schedule. So when the Free Press was afforded the chance to grab five minutes with Doncaster darting sensation Beau Greaves, it's one we naturally jumped at.
Expecting the interest to be understandably high, we didn't quite realise just how many journalists would be on the virtual Zoom call.
National reporters and darts-specific content creators all want a piece of the Sprotbrough star right now. And there's little wonder why. Still aged 21, she recently grabbed headlines by qualifying for a prestigious PDC tour card for 2026 and 2027 - before seeing off fellow wonderkid Luke Littler in two separate events that garnered even more headlines and media attention.
It's a mightily busy time for Greaves with a World Youth final against Gian van Veen later this month and then a second stab at the PDC World Championships at the end of the year. Before all of that there's the small matter of this week's Grand Slam of Darts where she's been pitted in what many are calling the 'group of death' that includes two former world champions in Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson.
Swirling around in the backdrop is plenty of talk about Beau potentially winning a Premier League spot next year as well as some historic quotes from van Gerwen about female darts players. The national journalists have understandably lapped all of this up and created a storm.
All of this speculation and focus could easily derail any other player her age but Beau is different. She's level-headed and enviously calm. That seems like the perfect temperament for a sportperson who needs to be cool in the heat of battle in front of thousands of fans.
What's evident across the course of the 45-minute video chat is how much Greaves has come on in terms of being relaxed and open, especially with the media.
She is exceptionally polite - "thanks love" is her go-to parting line after each individual reporter has finished their questions - and she's happy to expand on a variety of topics. But, as she tells the Free Press, it wasn't always like this.
"When I first started playing for my local team, I was so shy," says the former Ridgewood School pupil. "I never spoke or did anything. When I played Superleague (county competition) it took me about eight years to be able to call a game for them!
"I don't know how to explain it because I've always just been a shy girl but darts has helped me come out of my shell a lot, definitely.
"I think it's been great for me in that way because when I was younger people thought I was a mute because I didn't talk!"
It was at Balby Bridge Social Club where, aged just 15, Greaves hit a nine-darter - darts' equivalent of a 147 break in snooker or a hole in one in golf. The venue has played an important part in her life and even now she still plays for the team. She makes a delightfully modest admission that it's "wicked that they still want me in the team" - as if a three-time world champion would suddenly have to earn her place in the squad.
She adds: "I've come a long way and they've always supported me. They don't treat me any differently. I absolutely love it playing there.
"I practice at home but I play Superleague for the ladies team there. I think it's been 11 years I've played there now because I first started when I was ten. So I still play whenever I'm at home and it's nice because it just keeps you abit grounded and takes you back to what it was like years ago. It's nothing crazy, just working men's clubs and having a laugh with people I've known years.
"I think I'll always play for them."
It's a more than valid argument to suggest that Greaves was the original darting teenage star long before Littler arrived on the national stage. Admittedly, Littler's breakthrough at the PDC World Championships at the end of 2023 immediately caught worldwide attention and to his credit he has only got better and better with seven majors hoovered up in double-quick time.
But Greaves was winning her first world title in the WDF at just 18 and duly completed a treble at the world-famous Lakeside last December. Now, she's set to become a firm part of the PDC furniture and it will be fascinating to see how she fares at the Grand Slam.
In the past, she has spoken about bouts of stage fright and/or anxiety over playing in front of big crowds but when asked how she overcomes that, it seems to be simply a case of the more she does it - and that will certainly be the case from this point onwards with her tour card confirmed - the more comfortable she'll feel.
"You have to get yourself in the position to play on stage," she adds. "I like playing up there. I don't dislike it at all. Some players can perform on the floor but not up on stage. I don't really want to be like that.
"I want to be good on stage and decent on there so I know I have to improve on that."
The Free Press ends the conversation by asking Greaves if she's opted for a change of walk-on music - a big part of a darts players' persona - now that the spotlight is a little more firmly fixed on her and that appearances on Sky Sports will become the norm.
But in keeping with her down-to-earth nature, there'll be no fancy change-up in her entrance tune.
Status Quo's Rockin' All Over The World will stay for now. "I'll be keeping that one!" she says with a big Yorkshire smile etched across her face.