Trans darts star books her ticket to the Ally Pally after snubbing Lakeside invite

Noa-Lynn van Leuven will compete at the Paddy Power PDC World Championship in December.

The Dutch star, 28, booked her spot to the Alexandra Palace after securing her place in the top two on the PDC Women’s Series Order of Merit. Van Leuven had also booked her spot for the the Women’s World Championship at Lakeside.

However, PDC rules prohibit players from entering both tournaments. Thus, players who qualify for both World Cups must choose which to compete in. And the World Darts Federation (WDF) claim that Van Leuven has opted out of Lakeside because she has accepted the PDC’s World Championship invitation.

Van Leuven will become the seventh woman to compete at the Paddy Power PDC World Championship and the first to hail from the Netherlands.

Anastasia Dobromyslova, Deta Hedman, Lisa Ashton, Fallon Sherrock, Mikuru Suzuki and Beau Greaves preceded her, with only Sherrock managing to win a match at the iconic venue.

The Queen of the Palace did so at the 2020 Darts World Championship, where she managed to beat both Ted Evetts and Mensur Suljovic. Van Leuven might also appear alongside Greaves at the Grand Slam of Darts.

Greaves has made the opposite choice of Van Leuven – preferring to play the Women’s World Championship at Lakeside.

“I throw well now because I feel more comfortable,” she told Volkskrant when asked about her improvement. “It’s a matter of putting money and hours into it. Not many women do that, but I do. I’ve proven I can win over men, too.

“Some say that I had myself rebuilt so that I could win with the women. But I don’t wish the hell I went through to become who I am now on anyone. I didn’t do that to win more prize money now.”