10 Best Female Darts Players in the World

Women’s professional darts is a very popular sport in parts of Europe and Asia. Women’s professional darts is just as exciting for dart fans to watch as men’s matches. Some women are so good that they even compete in men’s tournaments. Fallon Sherrock famously became the first woman to win a match at the PDC World Championships, actually making it to the third round of the tournament.

Just like men’s professional darts, the best players in the world are typically located in the United Kingdom (particularly England) and more recently the Netherlands as well. Not as popular in the United States, you won’t find any American players on this list as the highest-ranked woman (Paula Murphy) is ranked 31st.

*BDO is the British Darts Organisation

10. Maria O’Brien – England (BDO Rank 10)

At 50-years old, Maria O’Brien is playing some of the best darts of her career. The lefty started playing darts back in 1991 but didn’t join the BDO until 2016. She has two career major semi-finals appearances in her career, with her most recent being in the 2019 World Championships.

In 2020, O’Brien has played in just two events. She won the Slovak Masters in February and lost in the quarterfinals of the Isle of Man Open. She won the Romanian Classic in 2017.

9. Laura Turner – England (BDO Rank 9)

Laura Turner – England

The 36-year old Laura Turner first made her appearance in the BDO in 2011. After three years off, she re-joined the BDO and has been playing there since 2014. Turner had her two best major performances in her two most recent tournaments. She made the quarterfinals in both the 2020 World Championships and the 2019 World Darts Trophy.

Turner has two tournament wins in her career. She won the 2018 Women’s British Classic and the 2019 Women’s Isle of Man Open. Turner also does commentary for Sky Sports, covering the 2020 PDC World Championships (men’s tournament).

8. Lorraine Winstanley – England (BDO Rank 5)

Lorraine Winstanley

Lorraine Winstanley is a 44-year old English dart player who began playing darts back in 1996. She joined the BDO in 2010 and the majority of her career tournament wins came in her early years in the BDO. She won eight tournaments from 2011-2014. She won her only career major in 2017 (World Masters) and then one tournament in 2020 (Slovak Open).

Winstanley has a couple of runner-ups in majors during her career. Looking to join some of the other top women in the world, Winstanley is looking to get her tour card to join the PDC and play amongst the men. She does not consider herself a full-time dart player as she also works as a beauty therapist.

7. Aileen de Graaf – Netherlands (BDO Rank 6)

The 30-yead old Dutch Aileen de Graaf began playing darts in 2007. She joined the BDO 2011 and has enjoyed a successful career from the start. de Graaf has won more than two dozen tournaments in her career, including four majors.

Wins aside, de Graaf is a player that always seems to make it to the later rounds of tournaments. One of the most consistent players in the women’s game, de Graaf doesn’t lose to weaker players. The only major she hasn’t won is the World Championships. In her seven appearances, she has made the semi-finals twice and the quarter-finals four times (losing to Lisa Ashton (2), Trina Gulliver (2) Fallon Sherrock, Beau Greaves, and Anastasia Dobromyslova). The women she has lost to in the World Championships have a combined 17 World Championship titles.

6. Anastasia Dobromyslova – Russia (BDO Rank 4)

Anastasia Dobromyslova is one of the most successful female dart players in history, despite being just 35-years old. Dobromyslova started playing darts in 1995 and eventually joined the BDO in 2001. One of the youngest players in the BDO, she made her professional debut in 2004. After a successful start to her career, Dobromyslova left the BDO to participate in the PDC along with the men for three years. In 2011, she re-joined the BDO after leaving the PDC.

Dobromyslova has won over 40 tournaments in her career, including eight majors. She is a three-time Women’s World Champion. Dobromyslova also plays soft-tip darts and became the first woman to win both a soft-tip and steel-tip world championship in the same year. Along with her eight BDO majors, she also has nine runner-ups in her career, including the last two majors.

5. Deta Hedman – England (BDO Rank 8)

Deta Hedman

One of the oldest professional darts players in the women’s game, the 60-year old Deta Hedman is an English dart player who was born in Jamaica. Hedman started playing darts back in 1973 when she was just 13-years old. She eventually joined the BDO in 1987. She played there until 1997 when she retired due to work commitments. She was world #1 at the time of her retirement.

Hedman returned in 2002 when she joined the PDC. She became the first woman to defeat a man in a major televised tournament, doing so in the UK Open in 2005. After five years in the PDC, she again retired for work commitments in 2007. She returned to the BDO in 2010, where she continues to play today. Hedman has more than 100 career tournament titles, including four majors. She is currently trying to get her tour card to play in the PDC again.

4. Beau Greaves – England (BDO Rank 2)

From oldest to the youngest, Beau Greaves is one of the youngest professional dart players in history at just 16 years old. At age 10, Greaves finished runner-up in the girl’s World Masters and again two years later at age 12. She went on to win the event in both 2017 and 2018 at ages 13 and 14. Greaves started playing darts in 2013 at age nine and went on to join the BDO in 2016 at age 12.

Greaves has five career tournament titles, winning four in 2019. In her first career major appearance, Greaves lost in the semi-finals of the 2020 World Championships (losing to reigning champion Mikuru Suzuki). Greaves is one of the hottest players in the women’s game right now and if her career stays at this pace, she is looking like the women’s equivalent of Michael Van Gerwen.

3. Mikuru Suzuki – Japan (BDO Rank 7)

The 38-yeard old Japanese dart player Mikuru Suzuki didn’t start playing darts until 2016. In just a few years as a professional, Suzuki has become one of the best women’s dart players in the world. Suzuki is the current reigning World Champion, having won the event each of the last two years. Suzuki won both her world titles in just two appearances, winning each final 3-0. During her first world title, Suzuki dominated and never lost a set during the whole tournament and only lost two legs in the finals.

Suzuki often finds herself competing in PDC and other male-dominated events. Suzuki played in the 2020 PDC World Championship and lost a close match to James Richardson (3-2) in the first round. Suzuki is also an accomplished soft-tip dart player.

2. Fallon Sherrock – England (BDO Rank 3)

This did really just happen, are you watching @MvG180 😉👀 pic.twitter.com/Mv4U6ZDzyl

— Fallon Sherrock (@Fsherrock) May 11, 2020

Fallon Sherrock is most famously known as the first woman to win a match in the PDC World Championship, eventually going on to win two matches. The 25-year old began playing darts back in 2010, eventually joining the BDO in 2012. Sherrock has over 30 career titles, including two majors. In the two majors she has yet to win, she has finished runner-up in both.

Sherrock enjoyed a very successful youth career and in the early part of her professional career was known as one of the best 180 shooters in the women’s game. She set a women’s world championship with 5 180s in the semi-finals of the 2015 World Championships and then hit six in the finals (although lost to Lisa Ashton). Sherrock competed as a challenger in the PDC Premier League, earning a 6-6 draw against Glen Durrant. Sherrock is working on earning her PDC tour card.

1. Lisa Ashton – England (BDO Rank 1)

Lisa Ashton is a 49-yeard old English dart player who began playing darts back in 1992. She joined the BDO in 1992 and the PDC in 1995, continuing to play both to this day. Ashton has won 12 career majors, five of which have come since 2018. In her 10 career BDO World Championship appearances, she has four titles and two runner-ups. Each opponent she has lost to (Trina Gulliver (3), Mikuru Suzuki (2), and Anastasia Dobromyslova) has multiple world championship titles.

Ashton won eight titles in 2019 and finished runner-up in six more. Ashton is the top player in the women’s game at this moment. She also holds a PDC ranking of 120. Along with Mikuru Suzuki and Fallon Sherrock, Ashton is one of the top women in the game that is capable of competing with the men. Considering she is one of the winningest and consistent female players in history, she is deserving of the current title of best female player in the world.