NDBAileen de Graaf (l), Anca Zijlstra (second from left) and Noa-Lynn van Leuven (r)
NOS Sport•today, 9:41 PM•Changed today, 10:40 PM
Richard Vermeer
Follows darts on behalf of the NOS
Richard Vermeer
Follows darts on behalf of the NOS
Darts players Anca Zijlstra and Aileen de Graaf are no longer part of the Dutch women’s team. The two left because they no longer want to form a team with trans woman Noa-Lynn van Leuven.
“The moment you are ashamed to play for the Dutch team because a biological man plays for the women’s team, it is time to go,” Zijlstra said in a message on Facebook on Saturday.
Van Leuven told NOS on Sunday evening that the resulting commotion had cost her a lot of energy. “I don’t really feel the need to go into it any further. This was their choice and not mine. The only sad thing about this issue is that a lot of people forget that I am also a human being.”
Zijlstra and De Graaf do not want to elaborate on their decision for the time being and leave it at their statement on Facebook.
Big tournament victory
In darts, women have their own competition circuit. At some tournaments they also play against men. Last year, Van Leuven became the first trans woman to participate in a major tournament at the PDC darts association and last week she achieved her first tournament victory there. Before that, a woman had never won a PDC tournament in which men also participated.
Van Leuven is also very successful in the women’s circuit. She won her first title in the PDC Women’s Series on Saturday evening in Wigan, England.
Last year we made the report below about Noa-Lynn van Leuven.
Van Leuven first Dutch trans woman in darts: ‘Sometimes difficult’
“I have tried to accept this, but I cannot approve or justify this,” said Zijlstra, who, along with her departure from the Dutch women’s team, is also ignoring her duties as a player representative of the Dutch darts association.
“I believe that sports should have an equal and fair playing field, which should be used and accepted in good faith. After all, we have worked so hard to be relevant and competitive in this branch of sport.”
De Graaf, number two in the world rankings for women of darts association WDF, responds to Zijlstra’s message on Facebook. “At a certain point you have to make choices when something goes against your feelings. You have to do what feels right for you. Hence my decision to leave the Dutch team.”
Next tournament
The Dutch women’s team will participate in the 4 Nations Tournament in Mol, Belgium on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 April. Van Leuven will form a team there together with Desiree Geel, Roos van der Velde and Aletta Wajer.
Paul Engelbertink, director of the Dutch darts association, says that the association will provide a response on Monday afternoon.
No physical disadvantage, yet the level of women remains far behind
In general, the level of darts for women is still much lower than for men, but there are logical explanations for this: the sport is still young, there are simply a lot fewer women playing darts and the prize money is much lower than for men. .
Take the World Matchplay: where the men have a total prize pool of 800,000 pounds (about 921,000 euros), the women share an amount of 25,000 British pounds (about 29,000 euros).
A big difference, especially at a time when there is an increasing fight for equality in the sports world. The tournament lasts nine days for men and one for women.
2024-03-24 20:41:47
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