Vincent van der Voort has fiercely criticized the World Darts Federation's decision to rename the men's singles to "open singles" at the Dutch Open Darts, calling the move "nonsense" and "forced." The former professional darter, speaking on the podcast Darts Draait Door, reacted to the adjustment, which stems from the situation surrounding Noa-Lynn van Leuven. The WDF no longer allows her to compete in women's tournaments, choosing the term "open category" instead of men's category so that transgender players can still take part.
Van der Voort stated emphatically, "Of course that's nonsense," and added, "I'm not going along with that nonsense. Where does it all end? You know, all that woke stuff, you shouldn't come to me with that. If Noa-Lynn plays with the men, then she just plays with the men, period. And not open." He believes the distinction has always been clear and that the change is unnecessary, driven by what he described as a "do-gooder" rather than broad support within the sport.
The former UK Open finalist questioned whether anyone had actually requested the change, saying, "I don't believe there's a single person in the whole world who called the NDB saying 'you need to change this.'" He reacted sharply to the idea that such signals might have come from the grassroots, wondering aloud, "Are there such pathetic people? Well, then I'd say: get a hobby." Despite his criticism of the name change, Van der Voort praised the NDB for how the Dutch Open was organized, noting its tight scheduling and efficiency, with officials who have been involved for thirty years.
