Beau Greaves created another slice of history in Wigan on Friday, becoming the first woman to win a Winmau Development Tour title.
Greaves took centre stage on a landmark day at the Robin Park Tennis Centre, storming through a 250-player field to add a maiden Development Tour crown to her record haul of 23 PDC Women’s Series titles.
The 20-year-old made back-to-back quarter-finals in the year’s first Development Tour weekend back in February, before going all the way on Friday to scoop the £2,500 top prize in her fifth event on the circuit.
The Women’s World Matchplay champion clinched the Event 11 title in sensational style, conceding just five legs in eight matches and posting four ton-plus averages along the way.
Having eased past Tim Scholz in her opener, Greaves averaged 103 and 101 in wins over Xanti Van den Bergh and Bailey White respectively, before whitewashing Tyler Thorpe to progress to the last 16.
Greaves then recorded a 107.36 average in a four-leg blitz of Lewis Mayes, before following up a 5-1 thumping of Owen Maiden with a semi-final whitewash against Germany’s Niko Springer.
Daniel Perry denied Irish duo Keane Barry and Dylan Dowling to set up a showdown against Greaves, only for the Doncaster darter to cap off a dominant campaign with a comprehensive 5-1 success in the decider.
Greaves’ 13-match winning run was curtailed by Sweden’s Viktor Tingstrom in the Event 12 quarter-finals, but it was Irish star Keane Barry who rounded off Friday’s double-header with victory.
Barry had celebrated back-to-back titles in Events Two and Three, and the former UK Open semi-finalist completed the hat-trick in 2024 to overtake Gian van Veen and move top of the Development Tour Order of Merit.
The 21-year-old saw off Mayes, Nathan Care and Gibraltar’s World Cup star Craig Galliano to kick off his campaign, before recording 4-3 wins against Jakub Janaszkiewicz and Jarred Cole to reach the last eight.
Barry continued his charge with a resounding quarter-final victory against Leighton Bennett, and he sealed the deal with successive 5-2 wins against Dutch duo Wessel Nijman and Angelo Balsamo.
Barry – who will represent Ireland at the upcoming BetVictor World Cup of Darts – averaged 104 to defeat an impressive Nijman, and he put in another solid display to deny Balsamo a maiden PDC title.
Balsamo's best performance of the day saw him average almost 101 in round four, and he won through a last-leg shoot-out against Tingstrom in the semi-finals, despite the Swede averaging 106.97 in his last 32 tie.
Nijman also put in some eye-catching numbers to end the day on a high, averaging 107, 104 and 102 to cement third spot on the Development Tour Order of Merit.
The top two players from the 2024 Development Tour Order of Merit will win a PDC Tour Card for 2025-26 and a place in the 2024/25 Paddy Power World Darts Championship.
The 2024 Winmau Development Tour continues with Events 13 and 14 on Saturday, before this weekend’s action draws to a close with Event 15 on Sunday.
The event draws and results are listed in the Match Centre.
Click here for match stats and results through DartConnect.
2024 Winmau Development Tour
Robin Park Tennis Centre, Wigan
Friday June 21, Event 11
Quarter-Finals
Dylan Dowling 5-1 Sebastian Bialecki
Daniel Perry 5-4 Keane Barry
Beau Greaves 5-1 Owen Maiden
Niko Springer 5-0 Henry Coates
Semi-Finals
Daniel Perry 5-2 Dylan Dowling
Beau Greaves 5-0 Niko Springer
Final
Beau Greaves 5-1 Daniel Perry
Event 12
Quarter-Finals
Wessel Nijman 5-0 Sascha Stuhlemmer
Keane Barry 5-1 Leighton Bennett
Viktor Tingstrom 5-2 Beau Greaves
Angelo Balsamo 5-2 Nathan Potter
Semi-Finals
Keane Barry 5-2 Wessel Nijman
Angelo Balsamo 5-4 Viktor Tingstrom
Final
Keane Barry 5-2 Angelo Balsamo