"If you're really that tough, you wouldn't have thrown that match" - Dirk van Duijvenbode criticises Anca Zijlstra amidst Noa-Lynn van Leuven controversy

The storm in women's darts between Anca Zijlstra and Aileen de Graaf on the one hand and Noa-Lynn van Leuven on the other continues to stir things up. Now Dirk van Duijvenbode has also reacted to the whole affair involving his compatriots.

Zijlstra announced last Saturday that she no longer wants to play for the Dutch women's team. Moments later Aileen de Graaf also joined her. The reason for this decision is because Van Leuven, a transwoman, is also in the Dutch team. Both ladies do not want to form a team with Van Leuven anymore. Anca Zijlstra announced this last Saturday through a facebook message, a little later De Graaf joined in, after they had informed the Dutch Darts Association (NDB) the day before.

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Dirk van Duijvenbode, the current number 12 in the PDC Order of Merit, has little sympathy for Zijlstra's action. "Who posts something on Facebook after she lost to Noa-Lynn. If you're really that tough, you wouldn't have thrown that match. Then you make a better statement. I think this is a bit weak, personally," Van Duijvenbode said to Radio 538.

However, Van Duijvenbode did not want to give his opinion on the whole affair. "I don't think the opinion matters at all. It comes from higher up. What anyone thinks about it is irrelevant. Ultimately, it's a rules issue and I don't think this is the only sport. This is more a matter of: don't hate the player, but the system." Later in the interview, he did call it a "systemic failure."

"In most sports, men are slightly better anyway," said Van Duijvenbode. "Why that is, I don't know. A woman throws more with a curve, a man has a tight throw. That really does have something to do with power. There really are exceptions, but they are scarce."

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