GRAND STAGE
Luke Littler’s draw revealed for Grand Slam of Darts debut as history-making transgender star faces two world champions
The 17-year-old sensation is making his first appearance in the tournament
THE first transgender woman to compete in professional darts will face two former world champions in the Grand Slam of Darts group stages.
Dutch thrower Noa-Lynn van Leuven will battle Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson in Group G of the 32-player major, which starts on Saturday in Wolverhampton.
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The 28-year-old part-timer – a sous-chef in her hometown of Beverwijk – will compete against men in a live PDC TV tournament for the first time having come through the Women’s Series.
It comes amid calls from some players to ban trans women from female-only sport competitions.
Ryan Joyce completes the quartet in that group following the draw which took place in Tamworth on Monday evening.
Luke Humphries, the world No.1, won this title 12 months ago in the Black Country, beating Rob Cross 16-8 in the final.
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And Cool Hand Luke opens his campaign against Austrian Rowby-John Rodriguez over the weekend.
That group also includes Englishman James Wade and Mickey Mansell from Northern Ireland.
Luke Littler, the Premier League champion and biggest talent in the sport, is making his debut in the event at the Aldersley Leisure Village.
But the 17-year-old avoided the big names as he was drawn to take on Belgian Dimitri van den Bergh, Irishman Keane Barry and Lourence Ilagan from the Philippines.
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Beau Greaves, the reigning women’s world champion, is in Group B.
She is joined by Danny Noppert, Martin Schindler and Scotsman Cameron Menzies – who is the partner of Fallon Sherrock.
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Welshman Gerwyn Price has been a three-time Grand Slam champion but is missing from the field after failing to qualify.
Reigning champ Humphries has opened up on his "tough draw", but is relieved to have avoided a Group of Death.
Humphries said: “You’re not going to get any easy draws, they are all there on merit.
"There could have been another group of players that would have made it an incredibly hard Group of Death but I have had that over the past two years.
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"I’ve got a tough game against James, he is a tough player to beat.
"Rowby-John has not had his best season but when he has been on the big stage he has played well.
"Mickey is always a dangerous player. I rate him as underrated, so I won't be taking those players lightly, especially in a best of nine.
Inside Littler's massive rise
LUKE LITTLER has taken the darts world by storm since exploding onto the scene at the PDC World Championship at the beginning of the year.
The Nuke reached the final on his Ally Pally debut at just 16 years of age - smashing records along the way.
He has then gone on to win a host of PDC events and the Premier League title - which he claimed at the O2 Arena by beating world champion Luke Humphries in May.
He also finished his first season in the World Series as the No1 ranked player.
He has joined Jude Bellingham on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list.
And the teenage titan even had to snub an invite from the WWE.
The Sun exclusively revealed that Littler is plotting to create a fitness empire.
He is also cashing in away from the Oche thanks to an Instagram side hustle.
And he's even the face of a brand new cereal.
But he is newly single after splitting from girlfriend Eloise Milburn following a 10-month relationship.
Check out all of our latest Luke Littler stories.
"Winning the Grand Slam last year was another catalyst given the success that it brought up.
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"I won’t be emotional but it will be a great feeling going back because I had great memories last year. I was formidable."
Luke Humphries was speaking at the launch of Darts on Your Doorstep, a partnership between Smart Energy GB and PDC in the Community.
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