The PDC Women's Series returned to Leicester for four more events at the Mattioli Arena on 22-23 August, and by the end of the weekend three of the biggest names in the women's game had added titles to their 2026 campaigns.
Lisa Ashton, Fallon Sherrock and Beau Greaves shared the four trophies, with Greaves taking control of Sunday by winning both Events 19 and 20.
There was plenty happening behind the champions too. Lauryn Salter produced an excellent run to her first final of the weekend, Gemma Hayter was a regular presence at the business end, while Jo Locke, Karolina Ratajska and Aileen de Graaf all made deep runs.
But as Sunday progressed, Greaves increasingly became the dominant figure.
Event 17 – Ashton opens the weekend with the title
Lisa Ashton made the perfect start to the Leicester weekend by winning Event 17 without losing a match.
Ashton defeated Lauryn Salter 5-0 in the final, completing a seven-match winning run and finishing the tournament with an overall average of 76.17.
The final itself wasn't Ashton's strongest statistical performance, with a 67.70 average, but she had already produced some much better darts on her route through the draw.
Her quarter-final victory over Grace Ferridge came with an 83.72 average, before Ashton survived an excellent semi-final against Gemma Hayter.
Hayter averaged 81.02, but Ashton found a way through 5-4 with a 74.93 average.
It was nevertheless an excellent tournament for Hayter, who averaged 80.54 across her six matches, winning five of them.
Salter's run to the final was another of the major stories of Event 17.
She defeated Emma Pearce 5-2 in the quarter-finals before coming through a dramatic semi-final against Jade Gofford, winning 5-4.
Gofford had produced an impressive 77.41 in beating Sue Lowther 5-2 in the previous round.
Aileen de Graaf also reached the quarter-finals, while Fallon Sherrock's first title challenge of the weekend ended earlier in the competition.
Statistically, Deta Hedman recorded the highest tournament average at 82.59, although that came from only two matches.
Ashton, however, was the player who kept winning – and seven consecutive victories gave her the opening title of the weekend.
Event 18 – Sherrock responds in style
If Event 17 belonged to Ashton, Event 18 belonged to Fallon Sherrock.
Sherrock went seven matches unbeaten and produced an 83.51 tournament average, comfortably the strongest sustained performance among the players who went deep into the draw.
She completed the job emphatically too.
Sherrock defeated Ashton 5-0 in the final, averaging 81.68 and conceding no legs.
It meant Ashton had reached consecutive finals at the start of the weekend, but there was to be no second title.
Sherrock had already whitewashed Aoife McCormack 5-0 in the quarter-finals, again averaging 81.68, before encountering a much tougher examination against Gemma Hayter.
That semi-final produced some excellent darts.
Sherrock averaged 79.42, Hayter 79.28, and it was Sherrock who emerged with a 5-3 victory.
Hayter's consistency was becoming one of the themes of the weekend. Having reached the Event 17 semi-finals, she immediately returned to the last four in Event 18.
On the other side of the draw, Ashton defeated Trina Gulliver 5-1 in the quarter-finals with an 81.28 average before overcoming Karolina Ratajska 5-3.
Ratajska had earlier beaten Tracey Dean 5-2 and finished the tournament with a 75.54 average across six matches.
But nobody could stop Sherrock.
Seven wins, an 83.51 tournament average and a 5-0 victory over Ashton in the final made Event 18 a particularly convincing title run.
Event 19 – Greaves takes over
Sunday brought Beau Greaves into the winners' circle – and once she got there, she didn't leave it.
Greaves won all seven of her matches in Event 19 and finished with an outstanding 87.60 tournament average.
The title came with a 5-3 final victory over Lisa Ashton, who remarkably reached her third final from the opening three events of the weekend.
Ashton averaged 81.28 in the final compared with Greaves' 84.55, but it was Greaves who secured the five legs required.
Her most impressive performance came in the quarter-finals.
Facing Aileen de Graaf, Greaves averaged a superb 96.30 in a 5-1 victory. De Graaf herself averaged 81.17, but could do little to stop the eventual champion.
Greaves then defeated Kirsty Hutchinson 5-2 in the semi-finals.
Ashton continued her remarkable weekend on the opposite side of the draw.
She whitewashed Angela Kirkwood 5-0 in the quarter-finals with an 81.68 average and then produced one of her best displays of the weekend, averaging 90.54 in another 5-0 victory, this time against Jo Locke.
Locke had reached the last four after edging Lauren Bloomfield 5-4 in the quarter-finals.
Hutchinson's run included a 5-3 quarter-final victory over Joanne Oldershaw, despite Oldershaw producing the higher average of 75.29.
There were other notable numbers throughout the field. Kirsi Viinikainen averaged 86.44 in her only recorded match, while de Graaf averaged 83.34 across her five matches.
But Greaves was operating on another level across the event.
Seven victories, an 87.60 tournament average and a peak of 96.30 gave her the first of what would become two Sunday titles.
Event 20 – Greaves completes the double
There was no stopping Greaves in the final event of the weekend.
She immediately followed her Event 19 success by winning Event 20, again going seven matches unbeaten and again averaging comfortably into the high 80s across the tournament.
Her overall Event 20 average was 87.42.
And this time the final was emphatic.
Greaves defeated Aileen de Graaf 5-0, averaging 91.65 to complete a remarkable Sunday double.
Before reaching the final, Greaves had beaten Angela Kirkwood 5-0 in the quarter-finals and Karolina Ratajska 5-1 in the semi-finals.
The latter was an impressive contest despite the scoreline.
Ratajska averaged 81.41, but Greaves responded with 89.20 and powered into another final.
De Graaf's route was considerably more dramatic.
She defeated Fallon Sherrock 5-3 in the quarter-finals, ending Sherrock's hopes of a second title during the weekend, before beating Jo Locke 5-1 in the semi-finals.
Locke had enjoyed another strong run, defeating Deta Hedman 5-3 in the last eight.
Elsewhere, Ratajska beat Gemma Hayter 5-3 in a quarter-final where Hayter averaged 81.45, while Greaves' 5-0 victory over Kirkwood completed the last-eight results.
For Greaves, though, Event 20 was the perfect conclusion to an exceptional day.
Across Events 19 and 20 she played 14 matches and won all 14.
Her tournament averages were 87.60 and 87.42, and she finished the weekend by averaging 91.65 in a whitewash victory in the final.
That is an imposing level of consistency.
Ashton shows remarkable consistency
Although Greaves finished the weekend with the biggest statement, Lisa Ashton's performances across the four events deserve considerable recognition.
Her opening three events produced finishes of:
Winner – Runner-up – Runner-up.
She won Event 17, lost to Sherrock in the Event 18 final and then reached another final in Event 19 before Greaves stopped her.
It meant Ashton played an enormous amount of competitive darts across the weekend while continuing to return to the latter stages.
Her 90.54 semi-final average against Jo Locke in Event 19 was one of her strongest individual displays.
Hayter repeatedly threatens
Gemma Hayter may not have collected a title, but her name appeared repeatedly in the latter stages.
She reached the semi-finals of both Events 17 and 18 and the quarter-finals of Event 20.
More importantly, her numbers remained strong.
Hayter averaged 80.54 in Event 17, 77.70 in Event 18 and 78.76 in Event 20.
She also averaged 81.02 in defeat against Ashton in the Event 17 semi-final and 81.45 when losing to Ratajska in the Event 20 quarter-final.
It was a weekend which demonstrated that Hayter is capable of consistently competing deep into Women's Series draws.
Four events tell the story of an increasingly competitive series
The four Leicester tournaments produced plenty of variety.
Lauryn Salter reached the Event 17 final.
Karolina Ratajska made a semi-final and later a quarter-final.
Jo Locke reached the Event 19 semi-finals and Event 20 quarter-finals.
Aileen de Graaf finished the weekend by reaching the Event 20 final after beating Sherrock along the way.
And established names including Deta Hedman, Trina Gulliver and Kirsty Hutchinson all featured at various stages of the weekend.
At the very top, though, three familiar names took the trophies.
Lisa Ashton opened the weekend.
Fallon Sherrock responded in Event 18.
And then Beau Greaves took complete control of Sunday.
Greaves' back-to-back titles – 14 consecutive victories across the two events with tournament averages of 87.60 and 87.42 – provided the defining performance of Women's Series 17-20.
Four events in Leicester had begun with Ashton looking almost impossible to keep out of a final.
They ended with Greaves looking almost impossible to beat.
