Darts star Deta Hedman has withdrawn from the Denmark Open after refusing to face transgender competitor Noa-Lynn van Leuven.
The 64-year-old has been an outspoken critic of the rules allowing transgender women to compete in women’s tournaments.
Hedman is one of the best-known figures in the women’s darts scene and has in the past called on the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and the World Darts Federation (WDF) to ban transgender athletes from women’s tournaments.
At the WDF tournament in Denmark, Hedman was scheduled to face Van Leuven in the quarter-finals, but decided to boycott the match instead.
According to German outlet BILHedman said, “I’m not playing against a man in a women’s event.”
Deta Hedman has withdrawn from the Denmark Open after refusing to face a transgender rival
She should have faced Noa-Lynn van Leuven, but instead chose to boycott the match
Hedman has previously called for transgender competitors to be banned from ranked events
American former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines offered to reimburse Hedman for the prize money she missed by forfeiting her race.
However, Hedman replied: ‘@Riley_Gaines_ thank you for your kind offer, but Denmark Darts paid me in full for the event.’
She then tagged an account called SaveWomensSports and wrote, “This topic is causing a lot of anxiety in the sport I love. People can be whoever they want in life, but I don’t think biologically born men should participate in women’s sports.’
In a separate tweet, she dismissed suggestions that she pulled out of the competition because she felt ill.
Van Leuven has been a woman since 2014 and won two tournaments in March, the PDC Women’s Series in Wigan and a PDC Tour event in Hildesheim, Germany a week earlier.
Facing Ireland’s Katie Sheldon in the final, Van Leuven triumphed 5–2 to claim £2,000 in prize money.
Two Dutch compatriots of Van Leuven have left their national team in protest after their second competition victory in March.
Anca Zijlstra revealed that she said goodbye ‘with pain in my heart’ – before world number two Aileen de Graaf quit hours later, vowing to no longer represent the Netherlands.
American former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines (center left) offered to pay Hedman all the money she was not paid for withdrawing from the Denmark Open
Hedman insisted she was paid in full but that the subject caused her “a lot of anxiety.”
18-time Grand Slam tennis champion Martina Navratilova (pictured) said: ‘No male bodies in women’s sports please – not even in darts’ after Van Leuven won a match in Wigan
Martina posted on social media platform X: ‘Once again: women get the short end of the stick. And it stinks
Outraged by the victory, 18-time Grand Slam tennis champion Martina Navratilova said: “No male bodies in women’s sports please – not even in darts.”
Martina posted on social media platform X: ‘Once again: women get the short end of the stick. And it stinks.’
Hedman was involved in the PDC Women’s Series in Wigan and hinted that the storm surrounding the inclusion of transgender players could lead to her leaving the sport.
She tweeted: ‘Not the best weekend at @Official PDC missing 2 darts in event 8 to get into the semi-finals. I have always said that I would stop playing when the fun of playing is gone, I think the current problems with the women’s game are getting closer and closer.’
Meanwhile, in a lengthy Facebook statement in December, Hedman called for transgender players, including Van Leuven and Victoria Monaghan, to be banned from ranked women’s tournaments.
She said: ‘For months I struggled with transgender people competing in women’s world rankings events.”
She then emphasized how far women’s darts has come, after Hedman and others ‘fought for better recognition of women’s darts’ in the late 1980s.
Hedman said she “packed up” in 1997 because she felt there was “little future for the ladies” before returning when a women’s championship was formed.
She then adds: ‘Then came the acceptance that trans women could participate in women’s sport through the WDF, PDC, county darts and independent events.
Hedman said in a statement in December that she had raised her concerns with the WDF
Last month she hinted she could quit the sport due to the ‘current issues with the women’s game’
‘I have known from day one that this is wrong, I have no problems with transgender people in life, I am not close to Noa-Lynn in terms of darts, but honestly he seems like a nice person.
‘At Lakeside I met Victoria Monaghan and she’s right. We chatted and laughed a lot, but my personal opinion is that transgender should not be allowed to play in women’s ranked events.”
Hedman said she raised her concerns with the WDF, but the governing body was “concerned about legal challenges” and that “they needed scientific evidence that a transgender person has an advantage over biological women.”
She also claimed to have contacted Dr Linda Duffy – former world number one in women’s darts – and called her articles “showing exactly why trans players have advantages over biological women, especially if they have gone through puberty as men .’
Hedman added, “In my opinion, those (mainly men) who don’t mention reasons why women can’t play as well as men are talking out of their behinds.”