Beau Greaves took Rob Cross to a last-leg decider before losing out 6-5 on her European Tour debut in the first round of the Hungarian Darts Trophy.
Rising star Greaves, 22, made history by becoming the first woman to compete in a PDC European Tour event after qualifying last month for both this weekend’s event in Budapest and the Czech Darts Open in September.
And she pushed the experienced Cross to a deciding 11th leg in a thrilling tie on Friday evening, averaging an impressive match-best of 104.88.
Cross, who played well himself with an 101.9 average, had made a flying start to the match with a 170 first-leg checkout but Greaves, who is dominating the PDC women’s series, quickly showed her competitiveness and took the next two legs.
She moved one more leg away from victory at 5-4 but Cross hit back to win the final two legs, with Greaves left to rue mistakes with her first two darts when left with 70 in the decider.
Rob Cross is eyeing his first European Tour title since 2024
Cross seized his first chance at victory by taking out 61, with the 35-year-old to now play Luke Woodhouse in Saturday’s second round.
Earlier on Friday evening and Hungary’s own Laszlo Kadar had caused the upset of the night by beating Daryl Gurney 6-5. Kadar will now play Jonny Clayton in Saturday’s second round.
Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen and Michael van Gerwen all enter the tournament in round two.
Who will win this year’s BoyleSports World Grand Prix? World No 1 Luke Littler will be defending his title and you can watch all the action from September 28-October 4, live on Sky Sports. Stream darts and more top sport with no contract.