Beau Greaves’ incredible winning run on the PDC Women’s Series was ended by Mikuru Suzuki as the pair shared Sunday’s titles in Leicester.
Greaves has dominated the Women’s Series since last summer, claiming the final eight events of 2022 before extending that winning run with another two titles on Saturday as the 2023 season began.
That double success – which earned Greaves £4,000 in prize money on Saturday – saw her run of match wins pushed to 66 without defeat, and she took victory in her opening four games of Sunday’s Event Three to continue that form at the Morningside Arena.
However, Japanese star Suzuki took a 5-4 success in their quarter-final tie to end Greaves’ run at 70 matches and deny the teenager an 11th successive Women’s Series success.
Suzuki then went on to claim the title, whitewashing Trina Gulliver 5-0 in the semi-finals and dropping just one leg in the decider against Wales’ Rhian O’Sullivan.
The triumph was Suzuki’s second since the Women’s Series was formed, having previously claimed Event 12 in 2021 before reaching five finals last year.
Greaves bounced back in Sunday’s Event Four to conclude the year’s opening weekend with a third title to reassert her Women’s Series dominance.
She won her opening four matches without dropping a leg – including a 107 average as she whitewashed Casey Gallagher – before seeing off Kirsty Hutchinson 5-1 in the quarter-finals.
The Doncaster star then gained revenge over Suzuki with a 5-4 semi-final win, before whitewashing Ireland’s Robyn Byrne in the decider.
“It’s been a really good weekend,” said Greaves, who admitted that the pressure of her winning streak eventually took its toll.
“Ten tournaments in a row has been brilliant but I’m glad it’s over. It’s hard not to think about it, you are waiting to lose but it’s history now.
“I really struggled with everything today, with the way I’m throwing [the dart] and I’ve not focused on all the stuff I should be focusing on.
“To be fair to Mikuru, I was actually thankful to lose – in the long run it will do me a load of good. I’m happy that I can start afresh now.
“I’ve had some really good games, I played steady today but in some games I was really good and confident and in others I just lacked it a bit.”
Byrne’s run in Event Four saw her reach a second final on the Women’s Series circuit, and included a 4-1 success over Lisa Ashton in the last 16 as she picked up £1,000 prize money.
The PDC Women’s Series will return for Events 5-8 on May 13-14 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, with each event offering £10,000 in prize money.
Entry, costing £25 per event, is available through the PDC Entry System at www.pdcplayers.com.
The top two players from the final PDC Women’s Series Order of Merit will qualify to compete in the 2023/24 Cazoo World Darts Championship, alongside the winner of the 2023 Betfred Women’s World Matchplay.
The top eight players on the rolling Women’s Series Order of Merit after Event 12 will qualify for the 2023 Betfred Women’s World Matchplay, which takes place on Sunday July 23 at the Winter Gardens.
2023 PDC Women’s Series
Sunday February 26
Morningside Arena, Leicester
Event Three
Quarter-Finals
Mikuru Suzuki 5-4 Beau Greaves
Trina Gulliver 5-0 Kirsi Viinikainen
Lorraine Winstanley 5-2 Priscilla Steenbergen
Rhian O’Sullivan 5-4 Noa-Lynn van Leuven
Semi-Finals
Mikuru Suzuki 5-0 Trina Gulliver
Rhian O’Sullivan 5-1 Lorraine Winstanley
Final
Mikuru Suzuki 5-1 Rhian O’Sullivan
Event Four
Quarter-Finals
Robyn Byrne 5-4 Noa-Lynn van Leuven
Kim Holden 5-2 Lorraine Winstanley
Beau Greaves 5-1 Kirsty Hutchinson
Mikuru Suzuki 5-1 Lisa Ashton
Semi-Finals
Robyn Byrne 5-2 Kim Holden
Beau Greaves 5-4 Mikuru Suzuki
Final
Beau Greaves 5-0 Robyn Byrne
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