Van Leuven makes history with stunning nine-darter on MODUS Super Series

NOA-LYNN VAN LEUVEN became just the third woman to hit a televised nine-darter in a stunning display on the MODUS Super Series.

The Duchess produced the perfect leg against Daniel Klose despite trailing 3-1 in their clash.

Van Leuven, 29, pinned back-to-back 180s before following them up with a brilliant 141 checkout to reduce the deficit to 3-2 in Portsmouth.

But Klose held his nerve to seal a 4-2 victory before going on to finish top of Group A in Week Five.

Van Leuven is no longer eligible to compete on the PDC Women’s Series after the Darts Regulation Authority introduced new rules preventing transgender women from entering female events.

As part of the process, the governing body commissioned a report from developmental biologist Dr Emma Hilton, which concluded that “multiple, small-magnitude sex differences accumulate to generate male advantage over females in darts.”

Despite the setback, Van Leuven remains determined to continue competing and has set her sights on earning a PDC Tour Card in the future.

She said: “I just want to try to enjoy the game again. I just want to improve myself this year and maybe hope I get a Tour card for next year.

“Hopefully, I can still find enough opportunities to do that.

“I’m not done with this game, but it still hurts, and all my goals for this whole year, they’re gone, and there’s not a lot of time left to get new big goals.”

Van Leuven made history as the first Dutch transgender woman to play at the World Championship in 2024.

She also featured at Ally Pally last December but was knocked out in the first round after losing 3-0 to Peter Wright.

Words: Aaron Nijjar

Image: Taylor Lanning