Darts player Deta Hedman has again withdrawn from a tournament after refusing to play trans rival Noa-Lynn van Leuven.
Hedman forfeited a quarter-final match at the Denmark Open almost 18 months ago, with sources initially claiming she had pulled out due to illnesses, but the British star later said she refused to play a transgender opponent.
She was scheduled to compete against Van Leuven again on Saturday (18 October), this time in the quarter-finals of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) Women’s Series, but withdrew once more, thus forfeiting her place in the tournament. The Daily Mail reports that she “withdrew after learning of her opponent.”
Having transitioned in 2021, Van Leuven has faced repeated personal attacks and vitriolic media coverage for playing against cis women. Despite this, she made history a year ago when she became the first trans player to qualify for the World Championships, following a 5-3 victory over English star Beau Greaves in Leicester.
Chief executive Matthew Porter has defended the PDC’s policy on transgender players.
”Noa-Lynn’s started to achieve more success in recent years, hence the opposition to her has become more vocal, which is the way of the world,” he said, according to Sky News. “It’s something we respect but ultimately we have a policy in place and it’s one that we’re comfortable with.”
Dutch player Van Leuven told PinkNews that the online abuse she had faced following Hedman’s original decision to forfeit the match, had left her not wanting to leave home. She has also spoken about “toxic” rivals.
“Where does the advantage come from?”
Speaking about Hedman’s first forfeit, Van Leuven said her decision particularly frustrating because doesn’t believe there’s “really a difference between men and women” in darts.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re two metres tall or 160 [metres],” she says. “A few years ago we had [16 times men’s world champion] Phil Taylor and he won against anyone but was a really small man.
“Someone who’s [tall] isn’t winning everything, so where does the advantage come from?”
Since the initial forfeit, Van Leuven has received a wave of hate on social media, which she said has caused her to have panic and anxiety attacks.
“I’ve got some nasty DMs on my social media,” she says. “Some really, really nasty s**t. I didn’t even want to leave the house, but in the end when I went on [talk show Sophie and Jeroen]. I gained a really big group of allies and a whole community standing behind me.
“There [are] also people against me but, luckily, I also have allies and people [who] stick up for me.”
Former world champion Luke Humphries threw his support behind Van Leuven, saying he wished her “all the best”.
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