Beau Greaves will open her 2026 Betfred Women’s World Matchplay campaign against Kirsi Viinikainen after the eight-player field and draw were confirmed for Blackpool’s Winter Gardens.
The fifth staging of the televised event is scheduled for Sunday, July 26, with Greaves, Lisa Ashton and Fallon Sherrock again giving the draw real headline weight.
Greaves enters as top seed after finishing first in the Women’s World Matchplay rankings on GBP45,700. Ashton, the defending champion, is seeded second and will begin against Rhian O’Sullivan, while 2022 winner Sherrock has been paired with Deta Hedman.
The remaining quarter-final sends Gemma Hayter into a meeting with Vicky Pruim, completing an eight-player bracket that also includes three former champions and two Blackpool newcomers.
Greaves Gets Immediate Blackpool Test
According to the Women’s World Matchplay field update from Sky Sports, Greaves will renew her rivalry with Viinikainen after the pair also met at the same stage of last year’s event.
The stakes are bigger this summer. The winner will qualify for November’s Grand Slam of Darts and the 2026/27 World Darts Championship, while the top prize has risen to GBP15,000 as part of a GBP40,000 purse.
For Greaves, the draw is a chance to reclaim a title she won in 2023 and 2024 before Ashton took the crown last year. For the field chasing her, Blackpool is another chance to show the women’s game is building depth around its biggest names.
