Beau Greaves Grand Slam of Darts 2026: Group of Death
On this page
- Beau Greaves Grand Slam of Darts 2026: Group A, the Group of Death
- How Greaves Qualified for the Grand Slam
- A Record-Breaking 2026: Nine-Darter, Ranking Title and European Tour First
- What Greaves Needs to Reach the Last 16
- Grand Slam of Darts 2026 Schedule and Session Times
- How to Watch Greaves at the Grand Slam
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Conclusion
The beau greaves grand slam of darts 2026 story begins on the opening night, under the brightest lights in Wolverhampton. On Saturday 14 November, the 22-year-old from Doncaster walks onto the stage at WV Active Aldersley to face Luke Littler, the defending champion and world number one, a man who has never lost a match at the Grand Slam of Darts. It is the headline tie of the tournament, the first meeting between the two on a televised PDC stage, and the toughest possible start to her fourth Grand Slam appearance. Greaves is in Group A with Littler and Niels Zonneveld, the Dutch Darts Champion, and there is no safety net: only the group winner reaches the last 16. For Greaves, though, the hard draw is also the point: she has spent 2026 breaking barriers no woman had broken before, and Wolverhampton is the next one.
Beau Greaves Grand Slam of Darts 2026: Group A, the Group of Death
The draw, made on Monday 9 November, put Greaves in the group every fan wanted to see. Group A is Luke Littler, Niels Zonneveld and Beau Greaves, and the opening-night meeting between Littler and Greaves is the match the whole tournament will be judged by. Littler is the top seed, the two-time defending champion and the world number one. He has won the World Championship, the Premier League, the World Matchplay, the World Masters and the UK Open this year, and is chasing a third straight Grand Slam title after beating Humphries 16-11 in last year’s final.
| Group A | Player | Why they matter |
|---|---|---|
| Seed 1 | Luke Littler | Two-time defending champion, unbeaten here |
| Player 2 | Niels Zonneveld | Dutch Darts Champion, beat Littler this year |
| Player 3 | Beau Greaves | Fourth appearance, first woman to win a PDC ranking title |
Zonneveld is no makeweight: he won the Dutch Darts Championship this season and is one of the only players to have beaten Littler on stage this year, at the Belgian Darts Open. The full draw is in our Grand Slam of Darts 2026 groups guide, and the story of the draw itself is in our Grand Slam of Darts 2026 draw post.
Greaves has beaten Littler before. The two have met twice and won one each: Greaves edged out Littler 6-5 in a classic World Youth Championship semi-final last year, and Littler levelled it with a 6-5 win at Players Championship 24 in August. Saturday night is the decider, and their first meeting in front of the television cameras. A win for Greaves would be one of the biggest results in the event’s history, and it would leave the defending champion needing to win his last group match just to stay alive.
How Greaves Qualified for the Grand Slam
Greaves earned her place at the Grand Slam the hard way, through the ProTour Order of Merit. She finished fourth among the ProTour qualifiers with £79,500 in her debut season as a Tour Card holder, and qualified for the World Championship the same way. She is the first woman ever to qualify for the World Championship through the main professional route, rather than through a women’s qualifying place.
That matters because the Women’s Series places went to other players. Lisa Ashton, Fallon Sherrock, Gemma Hayter and Vicky Pruim took the women’s places at the World Championship, while Greaves took a place on merit against the full field of Tour Card holders. She won her Tour Card through the 2025 Development Tour, finishing second after winning three events. Her route to Ally Pally is covered in full in our Beau Greaves World Darts Championship 2027 guide, and the complete 128-player field is in our World Darts Championship 2027 field post.
She is one of only two women in the 48-player field. The other is Lisa Ashton, in Group B with Jermaine Wattimena and Alan Soutar. If Greaves wins Group A, she faces the Group B winner in the last 16 on Wednesday 18 November, which could set up a meeting with Ashton for a place in the quarter-finals.
A Record-Breaking 2026: Nine-Darter, Ranking Title and European Tour First
Greaves arrived at the Grand Slam after a year of breaking new ground. The first landmark came in February, at Players Championship 6 in Leicester, when she became the first woman to hit a nine-dart leg on the PDC ProTour. She struck perfection in the third leg of her second-round match against Mensur Suljovic, hitting two 180s and a 141 checkout, and won the match 6-5.
The second landmark came in April. At Players Championship 11 in Milton Keynes on 27 April, Greaves became the first woman to win a PDC ranking title by beating three former world champions in a row. She beat Rob Cross 6-5 in the quarter-finals, averaging 102, then beat Gary Anderson 7-1 in the semi-finals, averaging 105 and winning seven straight legs. In the final she beat Michael Smith, the 2023 world champion, 8-7 in a deciding leg, finishing with a 142 checkout of two treble 20s and double 11. The title was worth £15,000.
The third landmark came in September, at the Czech Darts Open in Prague, when she became the first woman to win a match on the PDC European Tour. She came from 3-1 down to beat Daryl Gurney 6-4 in the first round, then lost 6-2 to Luke Humphries in round two. She had already become the first woman to qualify for a European Tour event, at the Hungarian Darts Trophy in July, losing to Rob Cross despite averaging 104.
In July she also won her third Women’s World Matchplay title at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, beating Fallon Sherrock 6-5 in the final, and her dominance on the Women’s Series included a 114-match winning streak from April 2025 to February 2026. She is now ranked 74th in the world, and the Grand Slam is the next stage on which she can prove that her 2026 season is no fluke.
What Greaves Needs to Reach the Last 16
The Grand Slam format is brutally simple. Each player plays the other two in their group once, over the best of nine legs, with two points for a win. Only the group winner advances to the last 16. The runner-up goes home, however well they played, so one defeat leaves no room for a second slip.
Her second group match, against Zonneveld, is played on Sunday evening if she loses to Littler, and on Monday evening if she wins, so either way she will know exactly what she needs from her second match before she throws a dart.
| Match | When | Session |
|---|---|---|
| Luke Littler v Beau Greaves | Saturday 14 November | Evening, 7pm GMT |
| Beau Greaves v Niels Zonneveld | Sunday 15 or Monday 16 November | Evening, 7pm or 7.30pm GMT |
| Last 16 (if she tops Group A) | Wednesday 18 November | Evening, 7pm GMT |
If she tops the group, she plays the Group B winner in the last 16 on Wednesday 18 November, over the best of 19 legs. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final are all best of 31 legs. Ties are broken by leg difference, then legs won, then legs won against the throw, then tournament average, and finally a nine-dart shoot-out. That matters for Greaves: even in defeat, legs won against Littler could decide the group.
The prize money is a reminder of what is at stake. The Grand Slam of Darts 2026 prize money totals £1 million, with £200,000 for the winner, £100,000 for the runner-up, £60,000 for the semi-finalists and £35,000 for the quarter-finalists. Every player is guaranteed at least £5,000 for finishing third in their group, and £12,500 for second. But the real prize is the last 16.
Grand Slam of Darts 2026 Schedule and Session Times
The tournament runs from Saturday 14 to Sunday 22 November at WV Active Aldersley. The group stage runs Saturday to Tuesday, the last 16 is on Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 November, the quarter-finals are split across Friday 20 and Saturday 21 November, and finals day is Sunday 22 November, with the semi-finals from 1pm GMT and the final from 7.30pm GMT.
| Date | Stage | Start (GMT) |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday 14 November | Group stage, double session | 1pm and 7pm |
| Sunday 15 November | Group stage, double session | 1pm and 7.30pm |
| Monday 16 November | Group stage, Groups A to H | 7pm |
| Tuesday 17 November | Group stage, Groups I to P | 7pm |
| Wednesday 18 November | Last 16, four ties | 7pm |
| Thursday 19 November | Last 16, four ties | 7pm |
| Friday 20 November | Quarter-finals | 7pm |
| Saturday 21 November | Quarter-finals | 7pm |
| Sunday 22 November | Semi-finals and final | 1pm and 7.30pm |
How to Watch Greaves at the Grand Slam
Every session of the beau greaves grand slam of darts 2026 campaign is shown live on Sky Sports in the UK, and viewers outside the UK can follow through the PDC’s worldwide broadcast partners, including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV. Our what channel is the Grand Slam of Darts on guide has the TV and streaming details for every region. The Littler side of the Group A story is in our Luke Littler Grand Slam of Darts 2026 guide, and the full tournament hub is our darts schedule page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Beau Greaves grouped with at the Grand Slam of Darts 2026?
Greaves is in Group A with defending champion Luke Littler and Niels Zonneveld, the Dutch Darts Champion. Only the group winner reaches the last 16, so she must finish above both of them to advance.
When does Beau Greaves play Luke Littler?
On the opening night, Saturday 14 November, in the evening session from 7pm GMT at WV Active Aldersley. It is their first meeting on a televised PDC stage: Greaves won their World Youth Championship semi-final 6-5 last year; Littler won 6-5 at Players Championship 24 in August.
How did Beau Greaves qualify for the Grand Slam of Darts 2026?
Through the ProTour Order of Merit, finishing fourth among the ProTour qualifiers with £79,500 in her debut season as a Tour Card holder. She is the first woman ever to qualify for the World Championship through the main professional route.
Has Beau Greaves ever won a match at the World Darts Championship?
Not yet. She made her debut in December 2022, losing 0-3 to William O’Connor, and she declined the PDC’s invitations in 2024 and 2025 to defend her WDF Lakeside titles. At the 2026 edition she took Daryl Gurney to a deciding set, losing 3-2.
What has Beau Greaves won in 2026?
She became the first woman to hit a nine-darter on the PDC ProTour (Players Championship 6, February), the first woman to win a PDC ranking title (Players Championship 11, April), and the first woman to win a match on the European Tour (Czech Darts Open, September). She also won her third Women’s World Matchplay title in July, beating Fallon Sherrock 6-5 in the final.
Conclusion
The beau greaves grand slam of darts 2026 campaign is the biggest test of her career so far, and it comes against the hardest possible opponent on the biggest possible stage. Littler has never lost at the Grand Slam, Zonneveld has already beaten him this year, and only one of the three will reach the last 16. But Greaves has made a habit of winning matches nobody expected her to win: she has beaten Littler once, beaten three former world champions in a single day, and rewritten the record books three times in one season.
Whatever happens in Group A, her presence in Wolverhampton is a landmark in itself: the first woman to reach the Grand Slam on merit through the ProTour, playing the defending champion on the opening night. If she wins on Saturday, the tournament changes completely. If she loses, she still has Zonneveld to play. The first darts are thrown at 1pm GMT on Saturday 14 November, and by the end of the evening session we will know whether Greaves is one win from the last 16, or one defeat from the exit.
