Transgender darts star Noa-Lynn van Leuven loses historical debut at Ally Pally as she becomes first trans player to play in World Championship

Transgender darts star Noa-Lynn van Leuven made history when she took to the Ally Pally stage on Tuesday, becoming the first ever trans player to compete in the World Championship, but suffered defeat on her debut.

The 28-year-old took her time taking the stage as she signed autographs for fans and hugged a visibly emotional family at the side of the walk-in section of the venue.

Against all odds, she won the first set 3-1, scoring double 20 to take a 1-0 lead, much to the delight of the afternoon crowd.

After losing the first leg by a throw, it looked like it would be a routine victory for Doets, who came close to knocking out then world champion Michael Smith on the first night last year.

But van Leuven then took three consecutive legs to take the set, despite being 93 places lower than her compatriot in the PDC order of merit.

It seemed that the second set would be easier for Doets, who won the first match while his opponent was not at the finish.

The 28-year-old qualified through one of the two designated female spots, but lost 3-1 to Kevin Doets

She had won the first set against her compatriot and teased a nine-darter in the final set

But Van Leuven hit back again to win the next leg before both players threw countless darts at a double to take the third. In the end, Doets pinned double one and made a joke to the crowd.

Doets then broke the roll to win the second set as both players pulled off frustrated numbers after a poor quality set.

Both stars averaged above 100 for much of the third set, which was won by Doets. Van Leuven then teased a nine-darter in the final with six perfect darts, but it was not to be and Doets threw out to win the match.

In October, she made history by becoming the first trans woman to win a PDC Tour event, securing her place at Ally Pally. She describes it as ‘the ultimate middle finger’ to her critics.

Indeed, her path to the competition has certainly not been easy, after two Dutch teammates Aileen de Graaf and Anca Zijlstra recently refused to play with her, while England’s Deta Hedman withdrew from competing against her.

Hedman has called for transgender participants to be banned from playing in ranked women’s tournaments, but Van Leuven hit back at the controversy, saying there are ‘a lot of conservative, toxic b****es on the women’s tour’.

Born in 1996, Van Leuven started considering a move at the age of 16 and officially began the process as a teenager. It was reported that her transition was complete in 2021 – a year before she started competing in the PDC Women’s Series.

She started playing darts as a child and decided to take it seriously at the age of twelve. But as she struggled with her identity, she previously told the Guardian that she stopped playing when she started transitioning.

It took a while for Van Leuven to take the stage as she signed autographs for fans during the walk-on

She said she was suicidal before her transition, which started as a teenager

Doets will now play Michael Smith in a rematch of last year’s second round tie

“I think if I hadn’t had the transition, I wouldn’t be here anymore,” Van Leuven previously explained.

‘The last two years before my transition were terrible for me, I was depressed and had no joy in life.

“I had nothing to live for, I wasn’t in a good space. Then I realized that I am trans, I have to do something with that, otherwise I will not make anything of my life.

‘Now I’m happy again and I have so much to live for. I really like darts, I like to play it, I like meeting new people and traveling and all of that is possible thanks to darts.’

In 2022 she made her debut during the PDC Women’s Series. Since then she has won the Belgium and Denmark Opens, the Malta Masters, the Malta Open, the PDC Challenge Tour and the PDC Women’s Series four times.

She has also achieved titles in the 2024 WDF Europe Cup, winning the women’s pairs, women’s team and women’s overall titles.