Noa-Lynn van Leuven lost her historic debut game at the Darts World Cup in London.
The 28-year-old Dutchwoman lost 3-1 to her compatriot Kevin Doets in the first round.
Van Leuven, who was the first trans woman to compete at the World Cup, started strong and won the first set straight away. When she had the chance for a break in the second set, she threw numerous throws past the doubles. From that point on, Doets moved away. On Thursday evening he will face former world champion Michael Smith from England.
Friendly welcome at Ally Pally
There had been numerous hostilities against van Leuven in the past few months. In addition to hate comments on social media, rivals also commented that they were bothered by van Leuven’s qualification via the Women’s Series. She was warmly welcomed at Alexandra Palace on Tuesday afternoon.
Trans people or transgender people are people who do not feel like they belong to the gender they were assigned at birth. Van Leuven completed hormone therapy in 2022. According to the regulations of the world association PDC, their start is permitted.
Gotthardt surprises, Pietreczko plays on Wednesday
On Monday evening, debutant Kai Gotthardt surprisingly won his opening match. On Tuesday evening (around 9:15 p.m.) Ricardo Pietreczko will be the second German to take part in the tournament. The top German player Martin Schindler, Gabriel Clemens, Florian Hempel and debutant Niko Springer are also qualified.