Transgender Darts Star Books World Championship Spot Amid Opponent Refusing to Play Her

Noa-Lynn van Leuven has secured her place in the 2026 World Darts Championship through the PDC Women’s Series.

Van Leuven, who is transgender, finished in fourth place in the rankings as the Women’s Series concluded over the weekend.

Only the top three players in the Women's Series rankings were initially due to qualify for the World Championship, but Beau Greaves’ qualification via the PDC Development Tour, and Lisa Ashton’s Women’s World Matchplay win, meant that the automatic spots were passed down to the fourth and fifth-placed players.

Van Leuven and Gemma Hayter have therefore joined the already-qualified Greaves, Ashton and Fallon Sherrock in the first round of the World Championship at Alexandra Palace.

On Saturday, during the Women’s Series 22 event, Van Leuven received a bye through to the semi-finals after Deta Hedman forfeited their quarter-final match.

The result had no impact on whether Van Leuven qualified for the World Championship, and she eventually comfortably secured her spot.

Hedman has repeatedly criticised the PDC over their decision to allow her to play in women’s events.

The PDC have stated on several occasions that Van Leuven meets the criteria set by the Darts Regulation Authority (DRA) in order to play.

She joined the Women's Series at the beginning of its first year in 2022, having passed stringent transitioning tests.

Earlier this year, the WDF (formerly the BDO) banned transgender players from competing in their women’s events amid lobbying from several players, including Hedman.

The 65-year-old took to social media to congratulate Greaves on winning 13 consecutive Women’s Series titles, before finishing with a clear message to the PDC over Van Leuven’s participation: “Now this season is over @OfficialPDC time to be a true Ladies series.”

After Van Leuven qualified for the PDC World Championship in 2024, Hedman told DW: “Absolutely no issues with Noa playing at Ally Pally, Noa was brilliant in winning a Challenge Tour [event] earlier in the season and is an awesome player.

“My only problem is Noa qualified through the Ladies Series, and it’s my belief that transitioned players should not be allowed in the women’s section of our sport.”

In March 2024, Dutch players Anca Zijlstra and Aileen de Graaf stated that they would not play for the Dutch national team alongside Van Leuven.

What have other darts players said about Van Leuven?

In November 2024, Van Leuven became the first transgender player to compete in the Grand Slam of Darts, where she lost 5-0 to three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen.

After the match ended, Van Gerwen defended his compatriot, and stated: “She had a lot of c**p over the last few yers. Some people have to be a bit nice to her. Bullying is probably one of the worst things in the world.

“But unfortunately that’s the world we live in. I don’t understand why people are bothering so much. There’s worse things in life to worry about.”

2024 world champion Luke Humphries, meanwhile, said: "She is in the competition. She has not broken any rules. She is doing what she is allowed to do. I can't say that she is doing anything wrong.

"I don't really know, it's a hard one, because there are so many different opinions that get thrown around.

"It would be nice if people let her get on with it and play. But, yeah, I wish her all the best. Hopefully she gets a win and it's good for her."

And in April 2024, Sherrock admitted that 'the room was divided' at a Women's Series event held that month, adding that she repeatedly checked on Van Leuven's wellbeing during the event.

"You could definitely tell the room was divided there," she told Online Darts. "I'll be honest, it wasn't a great atmosphere to be in.

"I actually went over to Noa a few times, just said 'Are you ok? Just keep going, don't let the haters win'. I sent her messages, made sure she was alright. Because that's what you've got to do, pick someone up.

"All this negativity, I got it, but she's getting it 100 times worse. If I can help her, I'd feel better and she should feel better and ignore everyone, just play how she can."

Sherrock added: "I think it was always going to come out, but I think the way it's been done has been absolutely appalling.

"I think there are ways of doing it, and people have gone completely the wrong ways about it. It's turned nasty, and it should never have turned nasty."