However, an emotional Gilbert rounded off the campaign with Event 24 glory to become the tenth player to win a PDC Women’s Series title since the tour’s inception in 2020.

They'll all waiting on trans-health care and I think there's a waiting list of up to three years in the Netherlands before you get your first appointment, so that's really tough on some people.She beat Gallagher, Gulliver and Dobromyslova to reach the 2019 World Championship Final but in the final she lost 0–3 to Suzuki. A few days later Winstanley confirmed her intention to compete in Q School for 2019 to try and earn a tour card to compete in the Professional Darts Corporation Pro Tour. She didn't get a tour card. Having spoken to Dutch TV and the Guardian, Van Leuven will prepare to face the world's media on the eve of her biggest match. It is a dream come true for Van Leuven, who said she always "felt different" to the other kids at school when she was growing up, but now feels playing 'Beau 'n' Arrow' at the Empress Ballroom is her darting destiny. Beau Greaves' incredible winning run on the PDC Women's Series was ended by Mikuru Suzuki as the pair shared Sunday's titles in Leicester.

Women’s darts has gone through a challenging period, with the drama at the start of 2020 around BDO World Championship prize money giving way to the eventual demise of the BDO and the emergence of a number of organisations and individuals looking to start from square one. But the work of the PDC in providing opportunities through the Women’s Series last year, a landmark event, and the calendar staple of Q-School, as well as the positive signs emerging from the World Darts Federation gives some optimism that the next year will bring good things for the women’s and amateur game. I always had that self-belief in myself and I can say all the pressure that's behind me is worth it [now I am able] to say I've won it." She won her opening four matches without dropping a leg - including a 107 average as she whitewashed Casey Gallagher - before seeing off Kirsty Hutchinson 5-1 in the quarter-finals. Eight of the best go head-to-head this Sunday and you can watch the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final all in one session at the Women's World Matchplay It was really tough," said Van Leuven. "I told a really good friend of mine and she was really supportive but she also said I had to tell my mum.

Betfred World Matchplay

Ashton continued her dominance on the Women’s Series with a sixth win in nine events this year to open Saturday’s action, before Winstanley emerged victorious in Event Ten. In the other semi-final, England's two-time BDO world champion Scott Waites will play fifth seed Michael Unterbuchner. Saturday's final sees Winstanley face Japan's unseeded Mikuru Suzuki, who beat England's Maria O'Brien 2-0. It's been a really good weekend," said Greaves, who admitted that the pressure of her winning streak eventually took its toll.