Beau Greaves narrowly missed out on becoming only the second woman in history to win the World Darts Championship after suffering a dramatic 3-2 defeat to Daryl Gurney at Alexandra Palace.
Greaves dominated the PDC Women’s Series, secured her PDC Tour card and beat Luke Littler in the World Youth Championship semi-finals during a memorable campaign. The 21-year-old came close to a famous victory over the 22nd seed.
She gained more legs, scored 180 more points and had a higher average than her opponents. Greaves fought back twice from a set down to take the first-round clash to a final set decider.
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Greaves made a respectable 128 in the second set against Gurney.
Gurney regained his momentum with a stunning 144 before going on to win the next leg. ‘Super Chin’ booked a second round meeting with Callan Rydz and retained 2020 third rounder Fallon Sherrock as the only woman to win on stage at Alexandra Palace.
“She is the best female darts player on the planet.” Gurney told Sky Sports. “If there is any darts player who can win a world championship or a major tournament, it is him.
“Even from a man’s point of view, she has a cajon. She’s a real darts player, frankly a darts player. Everyone said she was their favorite when she came into the game, but sometimes she showed class and composure and crossed the finish line.”
“The only thing that separated us was 144. When I was up 2-1 (in the final set) I thought, ‘Don’t pay any attention to her’. I missed a few doubles, but fair play to Beau. Every spectator should respect her because next year she will be a force to be reckoned with.”
Greaves was narrowly defeated by Gurney.
How Gurney steamrolled Greaves in the final set
A nervy opening set saw Gurney take advantage of a 90-point checkout and Greaves hitting a bad point to advance to the next game, with ‘Super Chin’ wasting a set dart to allow his opponent to break before winning the final leg decider.
In the second set, Greaves followed up the 15-dart leg with an average of over 108 to reach 128 at the bullseye and delivered a 10-darter after attempting a break throw to secure a third straight leg and level the match.
In a topsy-turvy third set, Greaves found a 13-dart break but missed a dart for the set to reach 102. Gurney was able to win the final leg and come within a set, but the women’s No. 1 fought back to take the fourth set at straight leg.
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Gurney made 144 under immense pressure.
Greaves missed a dart to win each of the three legs in that set but responded strongly in the final set. Here he regained momentum with a stunning 144 and then overcame a missed match dart to secure a nervy victory.
More to follow…
O’Connor’s statement victory: I’m ready for Van Gerwen!
William O’Connor averaged 102.36, his highest of any tournament this year, in a statement during his straight-set win over Poland’s Krzysztof Kciuk.
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William O’Connor came out with a song called ‘Zombie’.
O’Connor’s ‘Zombie’ walk-on got a huge response from the Alexandra Palace crowd and he got them back on their feet with a stunning 167 checkout in the opening leg, before Kciuk survived a missed set dart from the bullseye to take the opening set in the final leg decider.
The Irishman raced the next two sets in successive matches to a convincing victory, where he fired seven 180s to set up a second-round clash with Michael van Gerwen.
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O’Connor won his first match over Krzysztof Kciuk thanks to a 167 checkout.
O’Connor: “I think I have more to give.” told Sky Sports. “I am very happy with how my doubles went, but I know my scoring could be a little better, but at the same time I am very happy with my performance.
“The next game is going to be very, very difficult. At least I know I have to play like that. If not better, I can’t have such relaxed darts. Whoever I play on this stage, he’s one of the best players in the world, so go for it. I’m ready for them!”
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O’Connor can’t wait for his second-round meeting with Michael van Gerwen after getting past Kciuk.
Rock ‘underestimated’ Hayter during tough win.
Josh Rock secured his place in the second round after overcoming a late fightback from Gemma Hayter to win 3-1.
Rock took a two-set advantage but saw Hayter respond by winning the third set. The British woman took the fourth set to a final leg decider before the world number 11 closed out the win.
Josh Rock was tested by Gemma Hayter during his first round win.
“I was definitely nervous,” said Rock, who now plays Joe Comito. “I was a little out of step. Maybe I underestimated her. That’s not me being rude, that’s just the way I thought. I’m an idiot for thinking that way! I’m going to shake myself up because I can never do that again.”
Ryan Meikle defeated Argentina’s Jesus Salate in straight sets, Kevin Doets secured a 3-1 win over Matthew Dennant and Leonard Gates narrowly edged out Mickey Mansell in a final-set epic.
The exciting contest included Mansell winning a 33-dart leg in the fourth set to take the match to a decider, which Gates won.
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Mickey Mansell and Leonard Gates had trouble finishing one leg and ended up with 66 darts thrown!
Game 2 starts on Saturday
Ryan Searle kicks off Saturday afternoon’s session as he takes on Brendan Dolan. Andreas Harrysson plays Motomu Sakai, Dirk van Duijvenbode plays James Hurrell and Dave Chisnall plays Ricardo Pietreczko.
Former world champion Michael Smith opens the evening session with Niels Zonneveld, Chris Dobey plays Andrew Gilding and Stephen Bunting plays Nitin Kumar.
Jonny Clayton was due to face Dom Taylor in the final match of the day, but the Welshman missed out on the third round after Taylor was suspended by darts regulators for failing a drugs test.
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match live exclusively until Saturday 3 January on Sky Sports’ dedicated darts channel (Sky Channel 407). Stream the best sports including darts with NOW.
