Daryl Gurney takes to the stage and it is time for us to get started, with Beau Greaves to throw first.

Glen Durrant
Former Premier League champion on Sky Sports

Beau will get all the headlines. She is the best women's player I have ever seen. She is producing numbers that are scary. She is unbelievable.

Darts is two games, you play on the floor and then how do you deal with it on the stage. I'm really excited to get her up there.

Daryl Gurney is a World Cup winner. Daryl Gurney will love the fact nobody is talking about him.

Image source, Getty Images

Before the tournament, Beau Greaves was asked by BBC Sport whether she thought we would ever see a female winner of the PDC World Championship in the future.

"I don't think it's impossible, I just think it's probably going to take an extremely good run from one of us," she said.

"All the ladies that are playing have got the game to do it, it's just doing it consistently and over a long format as well.

"But we have to go into the competition believing, or else there's no point being there.

"I can't imagine it will happen soon but you never know."

Right then, time for the walkouts. Beau Greaves makes her way to the stage to the tune of Status Quo's Rockin' All Over the World.

Not long to go.

Image source, Getty Images

This isn't the first year that Beau Greaves has made it to Ally Pally. She played in December 2022, but lost in the first round to William O'Connor - who has just won his first-round game today,

Greaves was entitled to compete at the subsequent two PDC World Championships but declined the invites - instead choosing to compete in the WDF Women's World Championship as rules prevented her from competing in both.

She had also questioned whether she could consistently beat the best male players consistently.

But, after beating Luke Littler reached the World Youth Championship final in October, the 21-year-old from Doncaster confirmed she would play at this year's PDC World Championship.

Beau Greaves has had an incredible 2025.

In the PDC Women's Series, she ended the season with an 86-match winning streak and in all won 18 of the 24 Women's Series events in 2025, including each of the final 13.

Her performances on the Development Tour, on which she finished second, earned her a tour card among the PDC's pro ranks starting in January.

At November's Grand Slam of Darts, she failed to qualify from her group - but only lost in deciding legs to former world champions Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson, before beating Germany's Niko Springer in her final match.

But Greaves' most noteworthy result came in October when she beat reigning world champion Luke Littler on her way to reaching the World Youth Championship final.

The final was played in November and she lost 6-3 to Gian van Veen - who went into this year's World Championship ranked 10th in the world.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Daryl Gurney is a two-time quarter-finalist at the PDC World Championship and a two-time major champion - winning the 2017 World Grand Prix and the Players Championship Finals in 2018.

Playing alongside Josh Rock, the highlight of Gurney's year was winning the World Cup of Darts representing Northern Ireland.

"Superchin" is just outisde the world's top 20 but has recently reached the quarter-finals of the European Championship and the Players Championship Finals.

Last year at the World Championship, he lost in the last 32 to Wales' Jonny Clayton.

Another set without dropping a leg. An average of 102.36 and a 53% success rate on his doubles. A superb performance from William O'Connor.

That is the highest average of the tournament so far, by the way.

It's Michael van Gerwen in the next round.

Image source, PA Media

Former World Matchplay champion Van den Bergh was one of the few seeds to fall in the first round. Beveridge will play fellow unseeded player Madars Razma next.

Beau Greaves hit the headlines when defeating world champion Luke Littler in October to reach the World Youth Championship final. The interest almost crashed the online system offering score updates.

That came amid an unbeaten run of 86 matches in the Women's Series.

Littler admitted he hoped to avoid the woman nicknamed "Beau and Arrow" before the draw was made.

"Beau Greaves is definitely one that I wouldn't want to play," Littler, who became the youngest world champion aged 17 in January, told BBC Sport.

"She's world-class, that why she's won the Women's World Championship three times.

"She's been dominating the Women's Series for two or three years now and she's only going to get better and better."

William O'Connor breaks to win the first leg. He doesn't manage to check out tops, but he pins the double 10 - just like he did to win the first set.

Then he wins the second leg on double 10.

A different double to seal the set as O'Connor finishes on double 12 this time, checking out 81 for an 11-darter.

He is averaging 103 and 54.55% on his doubles.

This is a great piece of archive video.

The year is 2016 and 12-year-old Beau Greaves meets up with Michael van Gerwen to discuss how she got into darts and her hopes for the future.

A few weeks ago at the Grand Slam, Greaves lost a group match to the three-time world champion in a deciding leg.

An average of nearly 99 for William O'Connor in the first set, just under 96 for his opponent and a 50% checkout rate for both.

A strong start.

This has been a great start to the evening session, with the first set going down to the fifth leg.

William O'Connor and Krzysztof Kciuk have been switched on.

O'Connor, who won the first leg with a 167, nearly finishes on a 157 to break and win the first set.

Kciuk needs the bull but misses to his chance take advantage, before O'Connor then pins double 10 at the first time of asking.

Image source, PA Media

Beau Greaves, who topped this year's Women's Series by a considerable margin, is looking to become only the second female player to win a match at the tournament.

Fallon Sherrock won twice at the event in December 2019.

Three places were on offer from the Women's Series, along with a spot for the Women's Matchplay winner, a title that was taken by Lisa Ashton.

Ashton lost 3-0 to 2023 world champion Michael Smith in the first round on 11 December.

With Greaves qualifying in her own right as runner-up on the Development Tour, that meant Women's Series runner-up Sherrock, Noa-Lynn van Leuven in fourth and Gemma Hayter, who finished fifth, joined third-placed Ashton in the draw.

Van Leuven, who was the first transgender player in the tournament last year, was beaten by two-time champion Peter Wright this time.

Sherrock lost in straight sets to Dave Chisnall last night, while Hayter took a set off 11th seed Josh Rock in her 3-1 defeat earlier today.

Phil Taylor is the most successful player in the history of the PDC World Darts Championship, winning 14 of his 16 world titles between 1995 and 2013.

His previous two titles came before a group of leading players broke away from the British Darts Organisation to form their own governing body, now known as the PDC, in 1993.

The past five years have produced five different world champions, with English trio Luke Littler, Luke Humphries and Michael Smith winning the past three.

Littler and Humphries are among those hoping to join the exclusive club of players to have won multiple PDC world titles, with only six managing to achieve that feat so far.

With the way that Michael van Gerwen has been playing recently, both of these might be thinking they could cause a shock in the second round.

If you haven't seen, it was only a narrow win for Van Gerwen against debutant Mitsuhiko Tatsunami last night.

Image source, Getty Images

David Munyua's shock win? Paul Lim's moment of history? Alan Soutar's epic victory in a deciding leg? Motomu Sakai's walk-on and celebrations?

Get in touch with some of your favourite moments from the first round using the form on this page entitled "Send us your darts views" and we'll aim to use some of your submissions during tonight's live text coverage.

Image source, PA Media

Beau Greaves' match against Daryl Gurney takes place at about 20:15 GMT, but, before that, William O'Connor takes on Krzysztof Kciuk.

O'Connor, 39, has reached the last 32 twice and is currently ranked 42nd globally.

A tough prospect awaits the winner of the early game. They will face three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen in the second round.