In the latest development of what's been a groundbreaking few years for the sport of darts, a new name is set to make her PDC Pro Tour debut at next week's Players Championship events in Germany.
27-year-old Dutch talent Noa-Lynn Van Leuven, one of the sport's first transgender stars, is one of the many names added to PC9 and PC10 after a number of players withdrew from the event in Hildesheim, including World Champion Luke Humphries, Luke Littler, Rob Cross and Nathan Aspinall.
Van Leuven is set to follow in the footsteps of Lisa Ashton, who back in January 2020 actually qualified for the PDC Pro Tour by becoming the first female player ever to secure a Tour Card through Q School.
Van Leuven's inclusion and form on the Women's Series events has unfortunately attracted controversy and drawn the ire of many established players and fans alike. The PDC's official X/Twitter account notably disables replies to any of its tweets which highlight Van Leuven's games, even those against established stars like Fallon Sherrock and Beau Greaves.
Deta Hedman, the former three time runner up in the Women's World Championship, in particular has taken a stance against Van Leuven's inclusion in the Women's Series and in other events. Back in December 2023, a Facebook post from Hedman read: "I'm not close to Noa lynn in darts but in fairness she seems a lovely person. At Lakeside i met Victoria Monaghan and must admit she is a right character we had banter and a fair few laughs at lakeside. But my personal view is trans shouldn't be playing in women's ranked events.''
This was followed up just this past weekend, where Hedman and Van Leuven were due to play at the WDF Denmark Women's Open, before Hedman sensationally withdrew, with some citing that Hedman had fallen ill prior to the match, but if Hedman's tweet were any indicator, this would not seem to be the case...
Ahead of PC9 and PC10 in Hildesheim, no player has been able to win multiple titles on these Pro Tour floor events this year, with eight unique players winning one event a piece:
- Luke Littler
- Gary Anderson
- Ryan Searle
- Damon Heta
- Raymond Van Barneveld
- Dave Chisnall
- Chris Dobey
- Danny Noppert.
And when factoring in the European Tour as well, only Littler and Anderson have been able to win multiple events, highlighting how strong the field of competition is this year in particular.
Who do you feel will win Players Championship 9 and 10 this week? How do you think Noa-Lynn Van Leuven will fare? Let us know your thoughts now!
Deta Hedman throwing hands https://t.co/bZ7XodetCg pic.twitter.com/CNx8yeKjfg
— DartsAnonymous (@anonymous_darts) May 4, 2024
By Jaspar Shepherdson
(@jasparshepmedia on X/Twitter and Instagram)
Add comment
Comments