Beau Greaves defeats Katie Sheldon, Mikuru Suzuki and 'Queen of the Palace' Fallon Sherrock to retain the Women's World Matchplay title in Blackpool; darts is back with the World Matchplay final on Sky Sports Action and Sky Sports Main Event from 7.30pm
Monday 22 July 2024 06:22, UK
Beau Greaves retained the Women's World Matchplay title with a 6-3 victory over great rival Fallon Sherrock in the final at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.
Greaves produced a spectacular performance to defeat Sherrock, averaging almost 99 against the former Grand Slam of Darts quarter-finalist.
'Beau 'n' Arrow' crashed in four 180s and pinned 60 per cent of her attempts at double to underline her dominance of the women's game.
The 20-year-old has shattered a host of records on the PDC Women's Series circuit during the last two years, and she reaffirmed her credentials at the Empress Ballroom.
"I felt really nervous the first game. I knew it was going to be a challenge but I raised my game and played quite well," said Greaves, who has now sealed her qualification for November's Grand Slam of Darts and the 2024/25 World Darts Championship.
"I've been on the Development Tour a few years and it all helps. I'm ready to celebrate now.
"I'm just happy me and Fallon showed what we can do."
The Doncaster darter began her defence of the title with a 4-1 win over Ireland's Katie Sheldon.
Greaves, who is the most successful player in the history of the PDC Women's Series and has won an astonishing 23 titles throughout the last two years, including a hat-trick of successes in 2024, then saw off Mikuru Suzuki in a repeat of last year's final, landing 14, 13 and 15 darters en route to a 5-2 victory.
She renewed her rivalry with Milton Keynes trailblazer Sherrock in a fitting finale to the third staging of the event and it did not disappoint with Greaves averaging 98.75, four maximums, and a 60-per-cent checkout rate to pocket the £10,000 top prize.
She kicked off proceedings with legs of 13 and 15 darts to seize the early initiative, although Sherrock was undeterred, responding with legs of 13 and 14 darts to level at two apiece.
However, Greaves' relentless scoring power began to take its toll midway through the match, as she won the next three legs without reply to move to the cusp of victory.
This magnificent three-leg spell included legs of 15, 13 and 12 darts as her average climbed above 107, only for Sherrock to preserve her slender hopes by pinning double 16 to reduce the deficit to 5-3.
Sherrock looked poised to continue her comeback in leg nine, only for Greaves to follow up a seventh 140 by nailing double six to seal the deal.
Sherrock returned to the Winter Gardens as the No 2 seed, having lifted four consecutive titles in the latter stages of 2023, before winning two of the year's first four events to maintain her eye-catching form.
She began with a 4-0 demolition against three-time Lakeside women's champion Anastasia Dobromyslova.
Sherrock then recovered from 3-0 down to draw level with a huge 129 checkout against veteran Lisa Ashton in the semi-finals.
She was forced to survive seven match darts to snatch an extraordinary 5-4 win, but a dominant Greaves proved a step too far in the final.
"Beau is a quality player, and I couldn't keep up with her in that final," conceded Sherrock, who fell just short in her bid for a second Blackpool triumph.
"I think we are the two best players in the women's game at the moment, and hopefully our performances encourage other people to come into the game.
"I'm so excited to see how I perform in the second half of the year, because I want to be at Ally Pally, I want to get to the Grand Slam, so I'm going to take confidence from making this final."
Prior to her defeat to Sherrock, Ashton moved through to her third consecutive Women's World Matchplay semi-final with a clinical 4-1 win against Rhian O'Sullivan, after pinning four of her eight attempts at double.
Meanwhile, 2023 runner-up Suzuki had opened her challenge with an impressive 4-2 success against Noa-Lynn van Leuven, defying two maximums from the Dutch darter to progress to the last four.
The 2024 BoyleSports World Grand Prix is next on the Sky Sports darting calendar.
The annual £600,000 tournament will take place at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester from October 7-13, as 32 of the world's top stars compete for the coveted title which was won by Luke Humphries.
Humphries celebrated his maiden TV ranking title with victory over Gerwyn Price in last year's tournament, and the world No 1 will return to defend his title later this year.
Six-time champion Michael van Gerwen is also set to star, with teenage superstar Luke Littler poised to make his double-start debut in the East Midlands.
In a change to last year's format, Saturday's semi-finals on October 12 will be contested over the best of nine sets, with the final set to be played over the best of 11 sets on Sunday October 13.
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