Darts player Deta Hedman withdraws from another tournament after being drawn against trans player

Darts player Deta Hedman has withdrawn from yet another tournament after being drawn against Samantha Lewis.

On Saturday (27 July), Hedman — known as “The Heart of Darts” — announced she was withdrawing from a women’s singles tournament, marking the second time she has refused to go up against a trans darts player in just three months.

Hedman had already won against Patricia Roberts and Barbara Legge before being set to go up against Lewis, who is transgender, at the event. The tournament was organised by the United Kingdom Darts Association (UKDA). 

However, Hedman announced on Facebook that she withdrew from the competition after realising she’d be up against Lewis. Hedman said on Monday (29 July): “Re my forfeiting my match on Saturday, not much was discussed about my being right or wrong in my decision not to play a transgender person.

“But [it was] more of an attack on my literacy skills and choice of words!”

In May this year, the 64-year-old forfeited her match against Noa-Lynn van Leuven, who is also trans, at the Denmark Open. Hedman said she didn’t want to play against “a man in a women’s event”, misgendering van Leuven. 

Former darts player Neil Duff criticised Hedman’s comments at the time, alleging that van Leuven was left “scared to play” following the incident. Hedman responded at the time, claiming that she isn’t transphobic, and urged the darts authorities once again to launch an “open section” which is separate from men’s and women’s events.

“Only way to put a stop to this is simply Men’s Sports, Women’s sports, with a 3rd Open section,” she previously tweeted on X. 

Lewis was recently banned from entering the England Darts Open in Devon, having found out via a direct message on social media, and has revealed the “slander and discrimination” she has been subjected to in the sport.

She told the BBC earlier this month: “Recently, there has been some politics within the community of transgender women playing in women’s sports. I’ve had a lot of slander and discrimination.

“Mentally, my mum has been really worried about me because I’ve gone down that slippery slope again,” she said. “I wanted to end it all. I know it’s just a game, but it’s something that I love doing.”

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