Raymond van Barneveld has backed record-breaker Beau Greaves for a spot in next year’s Premier League – but only if she does well at the World Darts Championship!
The 21-year-old guaranteed her place on the professional circuit for two years from the start of the 2026 season and she will feature at the Grand Slam of Darts, where she will collide with Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Niko Springer.
She also stunned world champion Luke Littler in a phenomenal last-leg decider to become the first woman to reach the final of the World Youth Championship against defending champion and new European champion Gian van Veen at the Players Championship Finals in Minehead later this month.
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Watch every nine-darter hit at the PDC World Championship
The doyen of Dutch darts, Van Barneveld, admits “Beau ‘n’ Arrow” is ready to “cause trouble” on the ProTour next year, with a spot in next year’s Premier League also a realistic ambition with a good run at Alexandra Palace this winter – from December 11-January 3 live on Sky Sports.
“First of all, I’m so proud of her, you know, what she is doing. She’s beaten me 6-4. She beat Luke Littler in the semi-finals of the World Youth Championship,” said the five-time world champion.
“That says it all, in the last leg, an 11-dart finish! How great is that? And trust me, she’s going to cause trouble next year on the ProTour.
“No one can say to me, ‘Ray, do you feel ashamed because you lost to a woman?’ Well, try your luck, pal. Try to beat her. Show me!
“She beat an opponent 6-0 with a 106 average just before she played me. So, you can say, ‘yeah, a woman’, but she’s quality. And she does her country proud, and her family, and herself.
“If she does well in the World Championship, I can guarantee you she’ll get a Premier League ticket.”
Runaway No 1 on 2025 PDC Women’s Series rankings, Greaves has dominated the events, taking her winning streak to 86 matches – 13 successive events.
The Doncaster slinger last tasted defeat back in April, while also finishing second on the Development Tour rankings to secure a Tour Card for 2026/27.
She gave men’s world No 1 Humphries a scare during her history-making run to the fourth round at the UK Open, eventually losing 10-7 after being 7-5 ahead.
“In the past people would say, ‘yeah, she’s doesn’t have a Tour Card so she’s not a PDC member’ but she has that now and she’s making so much progress. I think it will be fantastic to see a woman with her ability playing in the Premier League. I can’t see why not!
“We saw Stephen Bunting having problems to win a game in the Premier League competing against the best players for eight weeks, then he won a night and then he won on the Euro Tour and now he’s back.
“But she has the ability to compete with the best player in the world. That’s because she’s so good.
“She’s got a really smooth throw. What I like about her is that she was 5-5 against the best player in the world Luke Littler and she landed an 11-darter, finishing on 84 in two darts to reach the World Youth Championship final – that is quality.”
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Go behind the scenes when Luke Littler beat hero Van Barneveld from a new Sky Original documentary Game of Throws – Inside Darts
What makes Beau’s throw the best in darts?
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Polly James and Chris Murphy assess what impact Greaves could have on the PDC circuit. Listen to the whole debate on the latest Love The Darts podcast.
Wayne Mardle has drooled over Greaves’ throwing action, and Laura Turner admits it’s hard to disagree with her fellow pundit.
“Greaves’ action is beautiful and Wayne is one of those players, along with others, that say if you want to learn how to play darts and you want that throw, Beau is the one to look at. It’s silky smooth, there’s no movement in the body,” she said.
“She’s got a lovely rhythm, and she just doesn’t miss. You have to be on your game from the very start.
“When I got the better of her a couple of years ago, she wasn’t hitting those big 80-90 averages. Now what you’re seeing from her is kind of 90-100 averages on this consistent basis. If you’re not on your game, and for me, it would possibly be playing the best game of my life to actually get past her – it is very difficult.”
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Speaking on Love The Darts, Polly James and Glen Durrant discuss Greaves’ comments saying that it would be ‘silly’ to think a female player could win the Worlds
RVB not a fan of current Premier League format
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Take a look at Luke Littler and Luke Humphries’ best 2025 Premier League checkouts
The Premier League format has undergone many changes during its history, with seven and 10-player line-ups, relegations, contenders and challengers all featuring.
The current format is played over 17 consecutive Thursday nights from February through to May with eight players selected and a nightly tournament held every week with points on offer in each game played over the best of 11 legs.
The points go towards a league table with the top four players after the 16 weeks qualifying for the end of season play-offs.
“When you saw in the past when Ray is playing Phil [Taylor] in three weeks’ time, everyone was focused. But now it’s Michael van Gerwen against Luke Littler and it’s Luke against Luke [Humphries], it’s Luke against Gerwyn [Price] every single week,” said Van Barneveld.
“Now you can play three matches and the next day you’re playing in Exeter or the UK Open starts the next day. It will take its toll. You hear a lot of players suffering with injury and they skip tournaments because they’re in a position to skip tournaments as long as you’re Order of Merit top 16.”
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