Transgender darts player releases statement after stars refuse to play | Other | Sport

Victory over Katie Sheldon in the final in Wigan came a week after Van Leuven became the first trans woman to win a PDC Tour event on the Challenge Tour in Hildesheim, Germany.

After joining the Women’s Series in 2022, Van Leuven explained that she might not be alive today if had she not transitioned. “I think if I didn’t have the transition, I wouldn’t be here anymore,” she told the Press Association.

“The last two years before I transitioned were terrible for me, I was depressed, I wasn’t having fun in life. I didn’t have anything to live for, I wasn’t in a good space. Then I realised I am trans, I should do something with that or I am not going to make anything out of my life.

“Now I am happy again and I have so much to live for. I really love darts, I love playing it, I love meeting new people and travelling and that is all possible because of darts.”