Beau Greaves produced a stunning performance to defeat Luke Littler 6-5 in a last-leg decider in the semi-finals of the PDC World Youth Championship in Wigan. The 21-year-old from Doncaster, a three-time WDF women's world champion, fought back from 4-2 down to level the match, then again from 5-5 to clinch victory with an 80 checkout.
Littler, the PDC world champion and UK Open winner, had been in dominant form earlier in the tournament, including a 6-1 win over Jamai van den Herik in the quarter-finals. However, despite a match average of 107.4 and two 10-dart legs, he could not overcome Greaves, who averaged 105.
The defeat came just a day after Littler had won the World Grand Prix in Leicester, defeating rival Luke Humphries 6-1 in the final. He admitted the event had been “brutal” but returned to action quickly at the Robin Park Leisure Centre.
Greaves, who has also won the PDC Women's World Matchplay twice, topped her round-robin group and defeated Coby Jones-Swanson, Danny Jansen, Tyler Thorpe, and Liam Maendl-Lawrance en route to the semi-finals. She became the first woman to reach the final of the World Youth Championship.
The defending champion, Gian van Veen, will face Greaves in the final on 23 November at Butlin's Minehead Resort. Littler took to social media to congratulate Greaves, saying: “Fair play to Beau. All the best in Minehead. Some talent.”
