Noa-Lynn van Leuven will no longer be allowed to compete in any of the Professional Darts Corporation’s women-only events after an immediate ruling from the sport’s regulatory body.
The Darts Regulation Authority has determined that darts is a “gender-affected sport” and ruled that transgender women will no longer be permitted to take part in women’s events. The decision means van Leuven is now barred from the PDC Women’s Series and from the Women’s World Matchplay.
Van Leuven has been one of the leading players on the women’s circuit and has won six titles in the PDC Women’s Series. She was also on course to qualify for the Women’s World Matchplay this summer before the ruling took effect.
Immediate impact on women’s competitions
The DRA decision applies with immediate effect, preventing van Leuven from entering women’s tournaments organised under the PDC framework. The ruling is the latest significant change to eligibility in darts and follows the regulator’s position that only biological females may compete in women’s events.
As a result, van Leuven will not be eligible for the remainder of the PDC Women’s Series and will miss the Women’s World Matchplay, one of the key events on the women’s calendar.
The ruling alters the competitive landscape of the women’s game and affects a player who had already built a strong record on the circuit. Van Leuven’s six Women’s Series titles underline the level of success she had achieved before the eligibility change.
The DRA’s classification of darts as a gender-affected sport is central to the decision. That designation has now been used to justify the exclusion of transgender women from women-only competitions under its rules.
For van Leuven, the ruling ends her participation in the PDC’s women’s events immediately, including a tournament she was set to challenge for later this year. For the wider sport, it marks a major policy shift in how eligibility is defined in the women’s game.
