British darts player forfeits tournament rather than face transgender opponent

Deta Hedman a three-time WDF World Championship finalist and a veteran of the sport since the 1980s – Getty Images/Bryn Lennon

A British darts player stepped up demands for tighter rules for women’s sport after forfeiting the Denmark Open because she was facing a transgender opponent.

Deta Hedman, 64, pulled out of a quarter-final match against Noa-Lynn van Leuven, prompting some supporters to offer to pay her prize money. Van Leuven has divided her sport since joining the women’s circuit after beginning transitioning in 2022. Van Leuven won two tournaments in March – the PDC Women’s Series in Wigan and a PDC Tour event in Hildesheim, Germany.

“I tried to enjoy life as much as possible,” van Leuven told Sky Sports. “I transitioned before going through a lot of meetings with a psychologist.”

Hedman has previously called on the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and the World Darts Federation (WDF) to exclude trans women from female tournaments. She wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that: “I wouldn’t play a man in a ladies event”.

In a message to the Save Women’s Sport campaign group, she added: “This subject [is] causing much angst in the sport I love. People can be whoever they want in life but I don’t think biological-born men should compete in women’s sport.”

Noa-Lynn van Leuven won two tournaments in March – the PDC Women’s Series in Wigan and a PDC Tour event in Hildesheim, Germany – Shutterstock /Shane Healey

Lynne Pinches, who has also forfeited matches on the women’s pool circuit for the same reason, said she had “full respect” for Hedman’s stand.

Hedman, a three-time WDF World Championship finalist and a veteran of the sport since the 1980s, has previously secured titles at the World Masters and Dutch Open.

Last year, the 64 year-old said she has found it “wrong since day one” that trans women were able to face women in her sport.

“For many months I’ve struggled with transgenders playing in the women’s world ranked events,” she wrote in one post. “I have thought this is wrong since day one, I have no problem with transgenders in life…Noa is a really nice person, nobody is disputing that at all… it’s just my belief and many other women players’ belief that trans shouldn’t be in women’s ranked events.”

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