Beau Greaves made history Saturday at the Czech Open in Prague, becoming the first woman to win a match on the darts European Tour after defeating Daryl Gurney 6-4.
The 22-year-old from Doncaster trailed 3-1 before reeling off three consecutive legs with 14, 13, and 11-dart finishes to go ahead 4-3. Gurney levelled at 4-4, but Greaves closed out the match to become the first female winner in the European Tour's 15-year history, according to BBC Sport.
It was a rematch of sorts. Gurney had beaten Greaves in a deciding set in their first-round match at the PDC World Championship in December. She had also made her European Tour debut the previous week in Hungary, where she was edged out 6-5 by Rob Cross.
"It feels amazing," Greaves said after the win. "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."
She added that the atmosphere in Prague made the moment feel larger than a single match result. "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."
The Czech Open win adds to a growing list of firsts for Greaves. In April she became the first woman to win a PDC ranking title, beating Michael Smith. In February she was the first woman to hit a nine-dart finish on the PDC ProTour, doing so in a win against Mensur Suljovic. In July she won the Women's World Matchplay for the third time, defeating Fallon Sherrock.
Her second-round opponent Saturday was world number two Luke Humphries. Greaves addressed that matchup directly. "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," she said. "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."
