''Even if you come from Pluto'' - Michael van Gerwen doesn't understand all the fuss surrounding Noa-Lynn van Leuven

For Michael van Gerwen, the Grand Slam of Darts begins Saturday night with a meeting against Noa-Lynn van Leuven, who is making her debut on PDC majors that include men.

Van Leuven has been a topic of discussion in the darts world for some time. She was born a man and underwent a transition in her adolescence and now plays as a trans woman on the Women's Series circuit. Through this route, Van Leuven qualified for the Grand Slam of Darts.

Not everyone agrees that Van Leuven can compete on the women's circuit. Especially since Van Leuven has been among the top women's darts players, the discussion has grown considerably. Van Gerwen feels that the situation around Van Leuven is "being blown up enormously," he stated in an interview with AD.nl.

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''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,'' the world number three stated.

Van Gerwen feels it is not up to him to give his opinion about it. ''People do ask for my opinion, but this is none of my business, is it? You have to let everyone have their own value. Where someone comes from? What someone looks like? What difference does that make? Even if you're from Pluto. Of course people are allowed to have a different opinion, but I don't understand why people get so angry about it. I think there are much worse things in the world to worry about.

In any case, Van Gerwen will not feel sorry for his compatriot. ''Are you crazy? I can't make mistakes. I have to be sharp and hurt her. In the end, they are all competitors and they all have to go at it.''

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