Trans darts player wins women’s event just days after claiming title against men

9 months ago 50

A TRANS darts player has won a women-only contest — just days after claiming a title against men.

Noa-Lynn van Leuven, 27, triumphed on Saturday in the PDC Women’s Series, eight days after beating male rivals in a mixed event, where she scooped the £2,500 pot.

The double win has enraged 18-time Grand Slam tennis champ Martina Navratilova, who said: “No male bodies in women’s sports please — not even in darts.”

Martina, who dominated women’s tennis in the Seventies and Eighties and won Wimbledon nine times, fumed on X: “Again — women get the short end of the stick. And it stinks.”

Two of Van Leuven’s Dutch compatriots have quit their national team in protest after Saturday’s win in Wigan, Gtr Manchester.

World number 12 Anca Zijlstra announced she was stepping away “with pain in my heart”.

And Aileen de Graaf, who is world number two, joined her hours later in vowing to no longer represent the Netherlands.

Zijlstra, 50, posted on Facebook: “That moment when you’re embarrassed to come out for the Dutch team, because a biological man is playing on the women’s team, it’s time to go.

“I have tried to accept this but I can’t approve or validate this.

“I think that in sports there should be an equal and fair playing field. I hope with all my heart and for all women in sports that people come to their senses.”

De Graaf, 33, commented: “If someone doesn’t feel good in the body they were born in, I encourage everyone to change that and be happy. I just don’t think it’s right for a biological man to throw for the women or vice-versa. It’s either mixed or not.”

Van Leuven’s women’s triumph included victories over English world number one Beau Greaves and Ireland’s Katie Sheldon, in the final, to take the £2,000 winner’s pot.

The Dutch star also beat Fallon Sherrock, who became the first woman to win a PDC World Championships match in 2019.

Van Leuven joined the Women’s Series in 2022, a year after transitioning.

She believes anger from other players, including long-time English star Deta Hedman, is leading to attempts to get her banned.

World number six Van Leuven said previously: “It sucks, but I try not to let it get too much into my head. It is very hard. It has been tough for the last two years.

“There are a few trans players, but I guess I’m the only one who can throw really good darts, so they want to get rid of me.”

Transgender darts players must meet stringent testosterone levels for at least 12 months and cannot change gender identity for at least four years.

PDC boss Matt Porter said last year: “Noa-Lynn has qualified by right. She is there on a level footing with every competitor in this sport.”