Beau

She has informed the WDF she will not be playing in the women’s championship, which starts on 28 November

A WDF statement said: “Although Beau will no longer be competing on the Lakeside stage, we wish her all the best in the next stage of her darting career.

“She has been a fantastic ambassador for our system since we returned from the pandemic in 2021, winning every major WDF title on the way.

“It’s been fantastic to see how her game has gone from strength to strength playing in WDF events and we know that she’ll continue to make even more history on the PDC circuit.”

A minimum of four women will compete at the PDC World Championship after a new qualifying structure was announced.

This year’s event will have an expanded field of 128 players, up from 96 in 2024-25, with the winner taking home £1m of a £5m prize pot.

Fallon Sherrock, the only woman to have won matches in the tournament – in 2019 – is the only other female player to have qualified so far.

With seeded players entering the tournament in the first round, rather than the second, Greaves and Sherrock could meet one of the top men.

Beau Greaves emerged victorious from a 6-5 thriller against Luke Littler as she became the first woman to reach the final of the World Youth Championship.

Littler came into the tournament on the back of his 6-1 demolition of world number one Luke Humphries in the World Grand Prix final on Sunday.

The 18-year-old had breezed through his three matches in the round-robin phase of the event, with wins over Dutchman Jeffrey Keen, Iceland’s Alexander Thorvaldsson and Belgium’s Matthias Moors.

However, the world champion put in a below-par last-16 display against fellow Englishman Charlie Manby.

Littler was on the brink of defeat at 5-3 down to the 20-year-old, before winning the next three legs, then rediscovered his touch in the quarter-finals with a 6-1 victory over Jamai van den Herik of the Netherlands.

Warrington teenager Littler found himself 2-1 down in the semi-final against Greaves but responded by winning three consecutive legs to seize the upper hand.

But three-time WDF women’s world champion Greaves – who is set to accept a PDC Tour card for 2026-27 – rallied to level the match at 4-4 and 5-5.

Greaves then blew Littler away in the decider as she threw an 11-dart leg – the 21-year-old from Doncaster sealing victory with a checkout of 80.

She will meet defending champion Gian van Veen in next month’s final after the Dutchman, 23, clinched a 6-4 win over Sebastian Bialecki of Poland in the other semi-final.

The World Youth Championship final will be played on 23 November in Minehead, before the Players Championship final on the same day.

Littler, who averaged 107.4 to Greaves’ 105, posted on Instagram after his defeat: “Fair play to Beau. All the best in Minehead. Some talent.”

Players aged between 16 and 24 are eligible to compete in the World Youth Championship.

Littler won the youth title in 2023 aged 16, a few weeks before he burst into the spotlight by finishing runner-up at the 2024 World Championship.