Trans darts star slams ‘scary and s****y people’ over gender complaints ahead of World Championship match
Noa-Lynn Van Leuven has described confronting what were labelled “scary and s***ty” people after becoming one of the most polarising figures in modern darts, revealing that the backlash following a historic appearance at the World Darts Championship triggered a period of emotional collapse and withdrawal.
The 29-year-old transgender player returns to Alexandra Palace this week to face former world champion Peter Wright, exactly a year after making history as the first transgender person to compete at the sport’s showpiece event.
That debut ended in a first-round defeat by Kevin Doets, but the consequences away from the oche proved far more damaging than the loss itself.
In an interview with Oche 180, Van Leuven spoke candidly about the toll taken by sustained online abuse.
“I basically only got out of bed when I was hungry,” Van Leuven said. “Then I’d grab a bag of chips, lie back down and watch Netflix all day.
“But as long as you just keep going and don’t think too much, you get by. Last year I had so many tournaments that I didn’t have time to dwell on how I was really doing. First this tournament, then that Worlds. But when all that is over, the crash comes.
“It felt like I ran into a massive concrete wall. Helping others matters more to me than thinking about myself. If there’s even one person who thinks I’m not crazy, I’m allowed to be myself, then all the misery is worth it.”
Noa-Lynn Van Leuven has described confronting what were labelled “scary and s***ty” people after becoming one of the most polarising figures in modern darts, revealing that the backlash following a historic appearance at the World Darts Championship triggered a period of emotional collapse and withdrawal
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PA
Van Leuven continued competing in women-only events throughout 2024 and into early 2025, before the World Darts Federation introduced a policy change in July barring transgender women from female categories.
Under the revised rules, transgender players may only compete in the Open category at WDF-sanctioned events.
The Professional Darts Corporation, which governs the World Championship, has not implemented an equivalent policy.
Five facts darts fans might not know | PA/GBNEWS
The rule change followed a series of flashpoints within Dutch darts.
National team players Anca Zijlstra and Aileen de Graaf withdrew from selection after stating opposition to playing alongside “a biological” man, a decision Van Leuven described as “incredibly painful”.
The controversy intensified when veteran competitor Deta Hedman later withdrew from the PDC Women’s Series after being drawn against Van Leuven, telling German newspaper Bild: “I’m not playing against a man in a woman’s body.”
Reflecting on that period, Van Leuven said the scale and ferocity of the reaction eclipsed anything experienced previously.
“I haven’t experienced reactions as intense as back then,” Van Leuven said.
“Everything I’d been through before suddenly resurfaced. At a certain point I was convinced that all people were scary and s***ty. I just had nothing left to fall back.”
Noa-Lynn van Leuven was previously banned from taking part in WDF women’s tournaments
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Despite the hostility, support has emerged from prominent figures within the sport.
Three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen described the WDF’s decision to exclude transgender women from female events as “heartbreaking”.
“Van Leuven does what Van Leuven does and can play terrific darts,” van Gerwen said.
“Let Van Leuven play nice. For me, there’s never been a discussion but I don’t make the rules.
“The PDC has people who go over them. They can never make the right choice anyway. If they go left, people say they should go right and vice-versa.
“Everyone has an opinion about it, but there is no point at all in continuing to argue.”
