VAN LEUVEN QUESTIONED FUTURE AFTER WDF BAN

By Aaron Nijjar

NOA-LYNN VAN LEUVEN admits she was unsure of her future in darts after being banned from competing in the WDF women’s category.

A new rule prohibiting transgender players from the women’s game left the Dutch star questioning her next steps in the sport. 

But ‘The Duchess’ is now eligible to compete in the open category, and says the situation has pushed her to improve as a player. 

Van Leuven has battled through the uncertainty and is still set to represent the Netherlands at the 4 Nations Cup, which begins in two weeks. 

She told Oche180: “It does motivate me to become a better player again. It is weird to not be able to play the women anymore in the WDF. 

“But I can within the PDC. In the end, I am playing in the Dutch tournaments now in the open ranking and I quite enjoy myself in those. 

“It was back in July when I knew about this new ruling coming up; they voted for it in the Europe Cup in Slovakia. 

“I knew it was coming but I didn’t know when or how. I didn’t even know when I was allowed to play anymore in the women’s [game]. 

“I was like, what am I going to do with my career now? Am I just going to stick to the PDC or am I going to try other things? 

“Back then I was allowed to play with the women in that period. But I wasn’t allowed to play in the open. 

“I just didn’t know what to do. When the ruling came out, I was like, at least it was clear now. 

“I actually want to give it a shot now to play in the open and maybe some WDF tournaments.” 

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

Prior to the tournament, Van Leuven took a break from the sport citing struggles with her mental health. 

The 29-year-old has received horrendous abuse but insists she loves the sport too much to ever quit and is aiming to secure a spot on the professional circuit. 

She added: “I just enjoy the game of darts too much. I keep coming back to it. I played in the youth and then I took a few years off regarding my transition as well. 

“Now I just can’t stay away from the game. I have only won one game on the PDC stage so far, but hopefully I can keep on improving and bring my A-game. 

“The last year has been rough. I have not played many games or tournaments. I played the women’s series and that was about it. 

“This year I want to keep improving and I see my game improving again. Hopefully I can actually aim for a Tour Card next year.” 

Van Leuven also shared the encouraging words two-time world champion Wright offered ahead of their Ally Pally clash. 

She continued: “I actually enjoyed myself on that stage playing Peter. He was really kind on the stage and behind it. 

“He was really nice to me. I think the crowd was amazing as well. I didn’t really bring my A-game, but I didn’t play much darts last year.” 

Van Leuven has excelled on the PDC Women’s Series picking up SIX titles over the last two seasons. 

But Van Leuven joked that Beau Greaves is annoyingly unstoppable on the circuit, still unbeaten in 113 matches.

She said: “She is quite annoying with how she is playing right now. I enjoy playing games against Beau; she always brings the best out of me in games. 

“Sometimes she beats me 4-0, but sometimes it is a really close game. I really enjoy playing her and seeing what she can do. 

“I think it’s really great what she is doing on the ProTour right now.”

Image by Taylor Lanning.