Beau Greaves became the first woman to win a match on the European Tour, advancing to the second round of the Czech Open with a 6-4 victory over Daryl Gurney in Prague.
The 22-year-old recovered from a 3-1 deficit, producing three consecutive legs that included finishes of 14, 13 and an 11-dart leg to shift momentum in her favour. Gurney levelled the match at 4-4, after his win over Greaves at the PDC World Championship in December, but could not prevent the milestone result in the European Tour’s 15th season.
Greaves made her European Tour debut in Hungary the previous week, where she was edged 6-5 by Rob Cross. The Czech Open victory is the latest landmark in a season already marked by firsts for the Doncaster player.
Earlier in the year she became the first woman to claim a PDC ranking title when she beat Michael Smith in April, and she hit the first female nine-dart finish on the PDC ProTour in a win over Mensur Suljovic in February. Greaves also collected her third Women’s World Matchplay title with a victory against Fallon Sherrock in July.
After the match Greaves spoke plainly about the moment. "It feels amazing," she said. "It's just so nice to win a game, I was so nervous at the start, I don't know why. It took me so long to get settled, but luckily I did enough to win the game. It means loads to me, the crowd's fantastic. It's such a tight stage and you feel so much from the crowd. I'm really enjoying it and loving the experience."
She will face world number two Luke Humphries in the second round on Saturday. Aware of the step up in opposition, Greaves added, "I've played Luke on the big stage before so I know what to expect, he's world class so I'm going to have to play a lot better than I did tonight. What more do you want than on a Euro Tour to play one of the best players in the world? I'll look forward to it and I'll be ready."
The result changes the narrative around Greaves’s place in professional darts, turning achievements earlier this year into momentum on the main tour and forcing rivals to reassess her as a contender in PDC events.
