Beau Greaves reveals Michael van Gerwen’s incredible gesture nine years after darts stars first met

BEAU GREAVES says Michael van Gerwen “always makes a point to talk” to her on the PDC tour.

The history-making star opened up on her bond with the Dutch darts legend almost a decade after first meeting him as a 12-year-old sensation.

Beau Greaves burst onto the scene in 2016 and quickly became one of the brightest young talents in the sport, with the BBC heavily backing her rise through the junior ranks.

As part of a feature on her career, she even had the chance to play against Van Gerwen while still a youngster.

Now, nine years later, Greaves is a PDC Tour Card holder and the first woman ever to win a Players Championship title.

She also went toe to toe with Van Gerwen at last year’s Grand Slam of Darts, averaging a brilliant 101.47 before narrowly losing 5-4.

Looking back on her first meeting with MVG, Greaves said: “It’s one of those things where, when I was younger and that photo was taken, the BBC was really behind me.

“They were doing loads of things to promote me and stuff. I did a few documentaries, which was great at the time.

“It gave me the opportunity to play against Michael, which looking back now feels strange.”

Greaves admitted facing Van Gerwen again on the big stage last year felt like a full-circle moment and praised the three-time world champion for helping her feel welcome on tour.

She added: “When I was in his group at the Grand Slam, I thought, this is the moment where it’s all come back around.

“I’d worked hard to get myself into that position and then to be able to play him there was really nice.

“It was funny because when I saw him, he said he still remembered playing me, and that it was great I’d stuck with it and come through.

“When you’re 12 years old, you don’t realise where you might be in ten years.

“I’m so happy when I look back that I stayed in the position I was in and kept going.

“Now I’m on the same tour as him and playing against him, which is really cool.

“The thing is, with me being the only girl on tour, he always makes a point to talk to me, which I think is really nice.

“I’m the only girl there at the moment, so it is different. I’m not really in with a lot of them, so it’s nice that he always says hello. I really appreciate that.”