Noa-Lynn van Leuven received daily death threats ahead of becoming World Darts Championship's first transgender player

12/11/2024 03:52 AM

NOA-LYNN VAN LEUVEN received "daily" death threats when her OWN team-mates rejected her.

But ahead of a landmark appearance at Ally Pally, the darts star says she uses the abuse as motivation.

Van Leuven, 28, will become the first transgender player to appear at the PDC World Darts Championship on Tuesday.

In March, Dutch duo Anca Zijlstra and Aileen de Graaf left the national women's team because they did not want to play with a transwoman.

Van Leuven said: "We all remember when my Dutch team-mates pulled out.

"I got so many hate messages on my socials.

"People recognised me on the street. Most were fine and really supportive.

"But those messages, like death threats . . . how many did I get? On a daily basis? In that period, yes.

"But I love this game, so I'll keep playing."

Van Leuven was backed by Michael van Gerwen last month, who said she has faced “heartbreaking” treatment.

He said: “It’s just heartbreaking. She does what she does and she can play terrific darts.

“Let her play nice. For me, there’s never been a discussion, but I don’t make the rules. The PDC has people who go over them.

“They can never make the right choice anyway. If they go left, people say they should go right and vice versa.

“Everyone has an opinion about it, but there is no point at all in continuing to argue.”