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Kevin Doets survived a scare to defeat Noa-Lynn van Leuven 3-1 in the first round of the PDC World Championship.
Doets will face 2023 champion Michael Smith next after the victory against Dutch compatriot Van Leuven, who was the first transgender player to compete in the tournament.
“It was very tough, especially at the beginning. She played better than I did at the beginning. It was really hard,” Doets said after coming from a set behind.
Van Leuven showed no nerves as she took the opening set, including a 120 checkout, at Alexandra Palace in London.
But she lost the second set after missing several chances at double with the scores at 1-1, before Doets finally sealed an extraordinary leg on double one after 33 darts.
It proved a turning point as Doets took charge, although Van Leuven hit six 180s in all, including two in the fourth leg of the second set before missing treble 20 when on a potential nine-darter.
Doets averaged 88.13 to his opponent’s 87.02 as he sealed his place in the second round.
Assessing the marathon leg, Doets told Sky Sports: “Every World Championship, there is a leg like that. I was unfortunate to have it today. It was tough. That leg and every single leg I was fighting, fighting, fighting.”
Commentator Dan Dawson said: “It proved to be a bit of a turning point because if Noa-Lynn takes one of her chances to win that leg, she breaks throw, she’s throwing for a 2-0 lead in sets and then Kevin is really under it.
“But within a couple of minutes, he’s level in the game, he bosses that little section of the match and that’s what gave him the platform to win it.”
Van Leuven was one of two qualifiers for the World Championship from the Women’s Series, alongside Fallon Sherrock.
The Dutch player became the first transgender woman to take part in a televised PDC tournament when she lost 5-0 to Michael van Gerwen at the Grand Slam of Darts last month.
Van Leuven has said she transitioned about 10 years ago. She had played darts from the age of 12 but took a break from the game before returning about four years ago, and joined the Women’s Series in 2022.
Darts Regulation Authority rules allow transgender players in women’s events provided their testosterone levels are below a certain mark, although some social media users have been critical of her taking one of the female qualification spots.
PDC president Barry Hearn has supported the guidelines, telling BBC Sport: “If there are no obvious athletic advantages, I don’t see why they shouldn’t compete in these sports on level terms.”
Van Leuven has called for people to “respect each other” but said she received death threats after Dutch players Anca Zijlstra and Aileen de Graf quit the Netherlands women’s team earlier this year because they did not want to play with her.
