World Darts Championship: Beau Greaves backed to win multiple PDC titles in 2026 after dramatic loss to Daryl Gurney at Alexandra Palace

Daryl Gurney has backed Beau Greaves to win multiple PDC tournaments in 2026 after the women’s world No 1 narrowly missed out on a historic victory at the World Darts Championship.

Greaves' return to the tournament after a three-year absence capped a memorable season for the women's star, who has dominated the Women's Series, beaten Luke Littler in the World Youth Championship semi-final and already secured her PDC ProTour card for the next two years.

She twice battled back from a set down to drag Gurney into a final set of their first-round contest at the Alexandra Palace, where she was hoping to become just the second woman in history to win a World Championship match.

• World Darts Championship: Schedule, fixtures and results🏆
• Join our live blog for all the latest updates from Ally Pally 🎯
• Got Sky? Watch on the Sky Sports app 📱
• Not got Sky? Get instant access with NOW 📺

The 21-year-old outscored the sixth seed in the averages, 180 tally and in legs won, only for Gurney to follow a stunning 144 checkout to break by holding throw in the next to complete a thrilling 3-2 win.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

"She's the best woman darts player on the planet," Greaves told Sky Sports. "If there's going to be a darts player that can win the World Championship or any majors, that's the player.

"Even from a man's point of view, that woman has some cojones. What a dart player, honestly what a dart player. Everyone said she was favourite coming into the game but sometimes I show my class and my composure and I got over the finish line.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

"The only thing that separated us was the 144. When I went 2-1 up [in the final set] I thought 'don't give her a sniff'. I missed some doubles, but fair play to Beau.

"All this crowd should respect her because next year she's going to be a force to be reckoned with. She's going to win some PDC tournaments."

Greaves' defeat means all five women's players in the 128-player line-up have made first-round exits and leaves Fallon Sherrock, who reached the third round of the 2020 edition, as the only female player to win a match at the World Championship.

"If she keeps on doing what she's doing, she will be the best female dart player ever," Gurney added in his press conference. "The way I looked at it [the match] was, because she's so good, that I would give her as much respect if I was playing MVG or whoever it is, the top eight in the world.

"For me, I can't give her any advice. She's going to learn it on her own. The best thing she can do is actually play on the pro tour and play PDC full-time and that will learn her to be better.

"She's a great player as it is - she played well tonight. Next year, whenever she's done a full year on having her tour card, she'll be even better and that's the scary part. If the draw comes out next year, I hope I don't play her because she'll be even better!

"If I was a betting man, she will definitely win a [PDC] Pro Tour, if not a European [Tour] event."

Part: Big step forward from Greaves

Two-time world champion John Part, speaking to Sky Sports:

"It's going to be a bad feeling for Beau [Greaves] to have lost there. In my mind, this is a step forward from the last visit when she didn't win a set.

"You wish you could press a button on yourself and play at your best standard, but good dart players like Beau [Greaves] will be thinking about the off spells they had in the match and how it cost them.

"We see the good stuff, but the player involved remembers the bad stuff. All you can do is come back again and try and play with more freedom next time.

"She's going to have lots of successes on the tour in 2026, but there will also be bad days. We all have them."

Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match exclusively live all the way through until Saturday January 3 on Sky Sports' dedicated darts channel (Sky channel 407). Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.