Noa-Lynn van Leuven, who has risen through the rankings in recent months, is set to become the first trans player to compete at the Grand Slam of Darts this month in Wolverhampton.
The Dutch darts player, who could now face the likes of Luke Littler and reigning world champion Luke Humphries, has hit back at rivals who called for her to be banned from competing in ranked women’s tournaments, saying they are “conservative toxic bitches”.
Fellow darts player Deta Hedman has twice withdrawn from matches when scheduled to face trans players in recent months, leading to the World Darts Federation issuing a statement warning players could be disciplined, as they claimed they are protecting the ‘integrity of the game’.
He told Sky Sports: ‘We took legal advice, we took ideas from other sports’ policy, the IOC, the governing bodies have put in place, and ultimately we came up with the policy that we believe to be fair.
‘We accept the fact that not everybody agrees with that and we accept that it is not a unanimously accepted position. However, it is a position that we’ve adopted and we believe is fair.
‘Noa-Lynn and others have been playing under that rule for a number of years now. Noa-Lynn has started to achieve more success in recent years, hence the opposition to her has become more vocal, which is the way of the world and something we respect. But ultimately, we have a policy in place and it’s one we are comfortable with.’
Van Leuven hit out at her female competitors last month, accusing them of being ‘toxic bitches’ who only want her removed from tournaments as they view her as a threat.
‘I thought the world should know. This is discrimination. We have been thrown back 40 years with the sport of darts,’ she said.
She later told Dutch outlet NU: ‘They (other players) secretly tell me that they don’t understand the commotion. But there are a lot of conservative toxic bitches on the women’s tour.
‘It’s a matter of putting money and hours into it. Not many women do that, but I do. I’ve proven I can win over men, too.’