Noa-Lynn van Leuven, the first transgender darts player to compete at the PDC World Championship, lost 3-1 to Kevin Doets in the first round at Alexandra Palace.
Van Leuven won the first set but Doets commanded the rest of the match after both struggled with their doubles in a comical third leg of the second set, which Doets finally took in 33 darts. In the final set Van Leuven threw six perfect darts but was unable to complete a nine-darter, and Doets quickly finished the contest with a final average of 88.13, compared with 87.02 for Van Leuven, who outscored him by six 180s to three.
The 28-year-old chef from the Netherlands received a warm reception from the crowd. “I didn’t expect the crowd to be really terrible,” Van Leuven said. “I hope they were with me. I guess they were with me. They just want to see good darts.”
Van Leuven won the first set but Doets took charge of the match after that
STEVEN PASTON/PA
Van Leuven made her debut in the Women’s Series two years ago after passing eligibility tests, having started to transition as a teenager. PDC regulations stipulate that a transgender player may participate in women’s events if their testosterone is below a certain level for 12 months and if they are listed as female on their passport.
“We took legal advice and we took some ideas from policy that other sports bodies, the IOC and other governing bodies have put in place,” Matthew Porter, the PDC chief executive, said last month. “Ultimately, we came up with a policy that we believe to be fair. We respect the fact that not everybody agrees with that and we accept that it’s not a unanimously accepted position.”
Darts contrasts with other sports that have kept transgender athletes out of women’s competitions. “It’s terrible for trans people at the moment to play any sport,” Van Leuven said. “The eyes would be on me because it’s a hot topic. If we look at trans people in sports in general, they’re the victim. Why can’t we just play anything we want? I don’t get it.
Van Leuven qualified for the PDC World Championship via the Women’s Series
MATTHEW CHILDS/REUTERS
“The PDC have been really supportive towards me, towards anyone. They stand behind their own rules. That’s how it is right now.”
Van Leuven and Fallon Sherrock made it to Alexandra Palace via the PDC Women’s Series. However, Beau Greaves, who earned her place by winning the Women’s World Matchplay, opted to prioritise the WDF Women’s World Championship over this event, as women are not allowed to compete in both.
Sherrock was the first woman to win a match at this event in 2020, knocking out Ted Evetts and Mensur Suljovic en route to the third round, and earning the nickname Queen of the Palace. The 30-year-old from Milton Keynes will face compatriot Ryan Meikle on Tuesday night, with the prize being a second-round clash with Luke Littler on Saturday.
Van Leuven has previously referred to “toxic bitches” on the tour, and said the WDF had “cancelled” trans players in September. Aileen de Graaf and Anca Zijlstra refused to be on the Netherlands women’s team with Van Leuven, while Deta Hedman, the three-times runner-up at the WDF Women’s World Championship, withdrew from a match against Van Leuven as a boycott.
The PDC World Championship was not the first time the world No144 has competed with men. Van Leuven won a Challenge Tour event in March, carding a three-dart average of 100.97 in the final, and competed at the recent Grand Slam of Darts, losing all three group games, to Michael van Gerwen, Ryan Joyce and Gary Anderson respectively. There was some booing from the crowd in the defeat by Van Gerwen.
Van Leuven won four of the 24 events in this year’s Women’s Series, registering a 109.64 average in a final victory over Greaves in Leicester. Greaves topped the order of merit in front of Van Leuven, Sherrock, Mikuru Suzuki and Lisa Ashton.
