Who is Noa-Lynn van Leuven? Meet the transgender darts star competing at her first World Championship – as she reveals the adversity she faced along the way

She spent the weekend working a double shift in a busy kitchen as a sous chef, whipping up pastries and desserts, so today will be a massive gear change for Noa-Lynn van Leuven when she steps on to the stage at the World Championship at Ally Pally.

The Dutch competitor, 28, will makes history as the first transgender darts player in the contest, taking one of the two qualifying spots open to women at this year’s championship along with Britain’s Fallon Sherrock.

When she takes on Kevin Doets, it marks an important milestone for the player, who was a teenager when she started the transition or ‘big glow-up’, as she calls it, which she says saved her life, after battling with suicidal thoughts and depression. 

In October, she made history by becoming the first trans woman to win a PDC Tour event, which secured her place at Ally Pally, and she’s described it as being ‘the ultimate middle finger’ to her critics. 

Indeed, her road to the contest has no means been easy, after two Dutch team-mates Aileen de Graaf and Anca Zijlstra have recently refused to play with her, while English player Deta Hedman pulled out of competing against her. 

Hedman has called for transgender competitors to be banned from playing in ranked women’s tournaments, but Noa Lynn 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 began considering transitioning at the age of 16 and started the process officially as a teenager, and it has been reported that her transition was completed in 2021 – a year before she began competing in the PDC Women’s Series.

Noa-Lynn van Leuven will make history today as the first transgender player to compete in the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace 

The sous chef has shrugged off criticism, claiming that there are a lot of ‘conservative, toxic bi****s’ on the circuit 

Noa-Lynn van Leuven was the first trans woman to play in a televised tournament when she competed in the Betfred Womens World Matchplay Darts in July 2023 

She started playing darts as a youngster, opting to take it seriously at the age of 12. But, struggling with her identity, she previously told the Guardian that she stopped playing when she began transitioning.

‘I think if I didn’t have the transition, I wouldn’t be here anymore,’ Van Leuven previously explained.

‘The last two years before I transitioned were terrible for me, I was depressed, I wasn’t having fun in life.

‘I didn’t have anything to live for, I wasn’t in a good space. Then I realised I am trans, I should do something with that or I am not going to make anything out of my life.

‘Now I am happy again and I have so much to live for. I really love darts, I love playing it, I love meeting new people and travelling and that is all possible because of darts.’

In 2022, she debuted at the PDC Women’s Series. Since then, she has gone onto win 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 claimed titles in the 2024 WDF Europe Cup, winning the women’s pairs, women’s team and women’s overall titles. 

Noa-Lynn travelled to London over the weekend with a companion who often features on her Instagram account, and goes by the handle Polygonfox. 

Noa-Lynn travelled to London over the weekend with a companion who often features on her Instagram account, and goes by the handle Polygonfox.

Noa-Lynn said that she was depressed and ‘not having fun’ in life before her transition, and said it saved her life in order to play darts

Before heading to the capital, she worked a double shift in the restaurant where she’s a junior sous chef in her hometown, Beverwijk.

‘I don’t mind working in the kitchen, and I think it’s one of my hobbies,’ she said. I’ve been working in kitchens now for like 12 years, and I’ve been out of them in between for like one-and-a-half year, and I really miss cooking.

‘So I’m not sure if I will ever go full-time on the darts. Maybe if it’s getting too busy, I will say I’m just going to focus on the darts, but for now, I enjoy my time in the kitchen.’

In the build-up to the event, she has hit out at criticism that she has an advantage when at the oche. 

She said: ‘Sometimes I’m accused of having an advantage over others because of my height. But look at Beau. We’re the same height. Or look at Phil Taylor. He’s beaten everyone and he’s a small guy.

‘Others see an alleged advantage in the movements of my hips. I would stand differently than CIS women. 

Then there are people who come up with a study from handball, according to which there are differences between men and women in the throw, specifically in the backswing, and also in the lunge movement.

The player, who has made history twice this year, also works as a sous chef part time and wants to continue both careers 

Aileen de Graaf (left) recently refused to play alongside van Leuven, while Deta Hedman (right) would not play against her

‘So, the last time I played darts, I didn’t do a backswing or a lunge. It’s f***ing darts. What are we talking about?’

Though she has received support from the likes of defending champion and World No 1 Luke Humphries, that hasn’t been the case with everyone. In the build-up to her World Championship debut, she told Welt am Sonntag: ‘It feels like everyone is against me. I know that’s not the case, but it just feels that way sometimes. In any case, they want to see me lose.’

PDC chief executive Matt Porter insisted last month that the current policy on transgender players is ‘fair’.

Ahead of the WDF (World Darts Federation) World Cup – an event Van Leuven won gold in – a members’ meeting took place when it was reported that trans women would no longer be allowed to play at WDF events. 

The event took place in late November this year, and it is unclear when this ruling will come into effect.

Van Leuven was fuming at the decision and issued a defiant defence via NU, saying: ‘I thought the world should know. This is discrimination. We have been thrown back 40 years with the sport of darts.

‘They (other players) secretly tell me that they don’t understand the commotion. But there are a lot of conservative, toxic b****es on the women’s tour.

‘They see me as a threat. I throw well now (on the women’s tour) because I feel more comfortable.

‘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.

‘People send the most terrible messages and then go on preparing their pasta. They have no idea the impact it has on my life.

‘I didn’t dare go out on the street for several weeks and had panic attacks. It did take a while for that fear to go away.’