Noa-Lynn van Leuven makes history and becomes first trans woman to win a Challenge Tour tournament

Noa-Lynn van Leuven caused a total sensation Friday by winning a tournament on the PDC Challenge Tour. She is the first transgender and woman ever to win a tournament at this level.

The Challenge Tour is open to darters who participated in the Q-School, but did not win a Tour Card there. During the sixth tournament of the PDC Challenge Tour 2024, the player from Heemskerk managed to beat a number of well-known names.

She consecutively defeated Jamie Atkins (5-2), Nicolas Thuillier (5-3), Stefan Bellmont (5-1), Alexander Merkx (5-2), Darryl Pilgrim (5-3), John Henderson (5-3) and Cam Crabtree (5-2) to secure a final spot. Then, in the final, Van Leuven won 5-3 over Tytus Kanik with an excellent average of 100.97. This title earns Van Leuven the top prize of 2,500 pounds, which also moved her directly up to seventh place on the PDC Challenge Tour Order of Merit. 

This is not the first time Van Leuven has made history. In 2023, she qualified for the Women's World Matchplay, making Van Leuven the first ever transwoman at a televised tournament at the PDC.

John Henderson 5 | 3 Franz Roetzsch

Noa-Lynn van Leuven 5 | 3 Darryl Pilgrim

Charlie Martin 5 | 2 Romeo Grbavac

Cam Crabtree 5 | 4 Vladimir Andersen

Sebastian Bialecki 5 | 2 Jimmy van Schie

Tytus Kanik 5 | 0 Adrian Gray

Aden Kirk 5 | 3 Henry Coates

Danny Jansen 5 | 3 James Beeton

Noa-Lynn van Leuven 5 | 3 John Henderson

Cam Crabtree 5 | 1 Charlie Martin

Tytus Kanik 5 | 1 Sebastian Bialecki

Aden Kirk 5 | 2 Danny Jansen

Noa-Lynn van Leuven 5 | 2 Cam Crabtree

Tytus Kanik 5 | 4 Aden Kirk

Noa-Lynn van Leuven 5 | 3 Tytus Kanik