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Noa-Lynn van Leuven, the first transgender darts player to compete in the televised PDC Men’s Championship, has announced she is “retiring” from the sport for mental health reasons .
The 28-year-old made history last month when he became the first transgender player to compete in the World Darts Championship, losing in the first round to fellow Dutchman Kevin Doets.
Van Leuven returned to action this week at Q-School, where players compete to win a PDC Tour card, but suffered another early elimination.
She later revealed on Instagram that she would be taking a break from the sport.
“Q-School 2025 is over and unfortunately I didn’t have my best game. The truth is, my mind hasn’t really been in the right place for a while. I’ve been struggling with my own mentality for a few months Struggling with health, I tried to push it aside every time a game came around, but this time, it got me,” Van Leeuwen wrote.
Van Leeuwen became the first transgender player to compete in the World Darts Championship last month
“Trying to focus on darts while dealing with old trauma triggered by last year wasn’t working and I realized it was time to shift my focus. It was time to prioritize my mental health and work on really getting better.
“This is not the end of my journey, just taking a step back and moving forward. Thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way – I am grateful beyond words.”
Van Leeuwen added a few hashtags to the post to focus on the importance of positive mental health, writing: #MentalHealthMatters #DartsJourney #StepBackToMoveForward #SelfCareFirst #MentalHealthAwareness #HealingJourney #FocusOnYourself #AthleteMentalHealth #GrowthNotPerfection #strongereveryday
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