Gemma Hayter and Lisa Ashton wrote the biggest headlines at the latest batch of Women’s World Series events as Hayter and Beau Greaves each claimed titles as the 2024 PDC Women’s Series continued in Wigan on Saturday. Ashton dominated Sunday’s pair of events.
Saturday’s opening double-header saw 80 of the world’s top female players in action at the Robin Park Tennis Centre, as Greaves racked up her 23rd Women’s Series title in the day’s opening event before Hayter added her name to the list of champions:
Event Ten saw Hayter spring a surprise as she become the 12th different winner of a Women’s Series event since its inception in 2020.
Hayter made her Women’s Series debut in Event One, and had already made two semi-finals and a quarter-final prior to Saturday’s action.
The Hampshire-based thrower thrashed Anastasia Dobromyslova 5-1 in the quarter-finals before seeing off Pauling 5-2 in the semi-finals.
In her maiden Women’s Series final, Hayter defeated Rhian O’Sullivan 5-3 to claim the biggest win of her career and thrust herself into a provisional qualification place for July’s Women’s World Matchplay.
Reigning Women’s World Matchplay champion Greaves had dropped just one leg in her opening three matches, before defeating Lorraine Winstanley 4-2 to reach the quarter-finals.
Victories over Finland’s Kirsi Viinikainen and Paige Pauling followed in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively to set up a final with Mikuru Suzuki.
Greaves came through a last-leg decider with the Japanese star to cement her place at the top of the 2024 Women’s Series Order of Merit.
The PDC Women’s Series continues with Events 11-12 on Sunday, with live coverage getting underway from approximately 1000 BST on PDCTV.
The top eight players on the PDC Women’s Series Order of Merit after Event 12 will qualify for the 2024 Betfred Women’s World Matchplay, which takes place at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens on Sunday July 21.
The top two players from the final Order of Merit will also qualify to compete in the 2024/25 Paddy Power World Darts Championship, alongside the winner of the 2024 Betfred Women’s World Matchplay.
LISA Ashton returned to winning ways in sensational style on Sunday, after claiming back-to-back PDC Women’s Series titles in Wigan.
Ashton failed to win a solitary game in Saturday’s double-header, but she responded with a run of 13 consecutive victories to cap off a flawless day of darts at the Robin Park Tennis Centre.
The 53-year-old kicked off Sunday’s action with Event 11 success, dispatching 2022 Women’s World Matchplay runner-up Aileen de Graaf to clinch her first Women’s Series title of the year.
Four-time Lakeside champion Ashton came through a decider against Chris Savvery in round two, before recording 4-2 wins against Angela Kirkwood and Finland’s Kirsi Viinikainen to reach the last eight.
There, Ashton recorded a superb 5-3 victory against Order of Merit leader Beau Greaves, and she survived multiple match darts to emerge through a gruelling semi-final against Wales’ Rhian O’Sullivan.
De Graaf, meanwhile, whitewashed Lorraine Winstanley, brushed aside Event Ten winner Gemma Hayter and overcame Noa-Lynn van Leuven and Sweden’s Vicky Pruim to pocket the £1,000 runner-up prize.
Earlier in the day, Mikuru Suzuki produced a sensational 103.66 average in her third round whitewash of Mozhgan Rahmani, only to be dumped out by a clinical O’Sullivan in the last 16.
However, Ashton again stole the headlines in Sunday’s finale, doubling her title tally for 2024 with an emphatic 5-1 victory against Greaves in the Event 12 decider.
Having eased past Ingibjorg Magnusdottir and Lorraine Hyde in the opening stages of the tournament, Ashton was forced to fend off a valiant fightback from Portugal’s Neuza Araujo to progress to the quarter-finals.
The four-time World Championship qualifier then whitewashed Laura Turner in the last eight, and she continued her charge with a 5-2 win against Fallon Sherrock in the semi-finals.
Ashton again accounted for Greaves to complete a memorable double in Wigan, converting 64, 80 and 104 checkouts to draw level with Sherrock on 17 PDC Women’s Series titles.
Greaves’ run to the Event 12 showpiece featured wins over Van Leuven and Angela Kirkwood, while she also produced a match-winning 151 finish in her quarter-final comeback against Winstanley.
The PDC Women’s Series will continue with Events 13-16 in Niedernhausen on August 10-11, with live coverage available on PDCTV.
However, that will be preceded by the Betfred Women’s World Matchplay on Sunday July 21, with the winner set to qualify for the Grand Slam of Darts and the 2024/25 World Darts Championship.
The top two players from the final Women’s Series Order of Merit will also qualify to compete in the 2024/25 World Darts Championship, alongside the winner of the 2024 Betfred Women’s World Matchplay.
2024 PDC Women’s Series
Robin Park Tennis Centre Wigan
Saturday June 15
Event Seven
Quarter-Finals
Paige Pauling 5-3 Eleanor Cairns
Beau Greaves 5-1 Kirsi Viinikainen
Steph Clarke 5-2 Aileen de Graaf
Mikuru Suzuki 5-0 Trina Gulliver
Semi-Finals
Beau Greaves 5-4 Paige Pauling
Mikuru Suzuki 5-0 Steph Clarke
Final
Beau Greaves 5-4 Mikuru Suzuki
Event Ten
Quarter-Finals
Paige Pauling 5-4 Kim Holden
Gemma Hayter 5-1 Anastasia Dobromyslova
Fallon Sherrock 5-0 Kirsty Hutchinson
Rhian O’Sullivan 5-4 Beau Greaves
Semi-Finals
Gemma Hayter 5-2 Paige Pauling
Rhian O’Sullivan 5-3 Fallon Sherrock
Final
Gemma Hayter 5-3 Rhian O’Sullivan
Sunday June 16
Robin Park Tennis Centre, Wigan
Event 11 Quarter-Finals
Vicky Pruim 5-4 Neuza Araujo
Aileen de Graaf 5-2 Noa-Lynn van Leuven
Rhian O’Sullivan 5-1 Kirsty Hutchinson
Lisa Ashton 5-3 Beau Greaves
Semi-Finals
Aileen de Graaf 5-2 Vicky Pruim
Lisa Ashton 5-4 Rhian O’Sullivan
Final
Lisa Ashton 5-1 Aileen de Graaf
Event 12
Quarter-Finals
Angela Kirkwood 5-2 Steph Clarke
Beau Greaves 5-4 Lorraine Winstanley
Lisa Ashton 5-0 Laura Turner
Fallon Sherrock 5-0 Aoife McCormack
Semi-Finals
Beau Greaves 5-1 Angela Kirkwood
Lisa Ashton 5-2 Fallon Sherrock
Final
Lisa Ashton 5-1 Beau Greaves
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC