ANALYSIS: Aspinall trickles down rankings, Smith and Gilding rise, Edhouse and Woodhouse top 32 slots under scrutiny

Currently, English darters reign supreme in the PDC order of merit. Half of the top 32 players reside in England, with Luke Humphries and Luke Littler sitting up top as the two best players in the world. It is fair to say England is doing well, represented by the depth it has.

With the season past the halfway point and multiple big major tournaments cropping up at the end of the year, this can be a time for players to look up the rankings as they eye new high rankings, or for them to worryingly look over their shoulder and slip down with some poor performances. These are seven English darters in the top 32 who will be having these thoughts as they look to challenge the best players in the world.

Since Ross Smith's breakout year in 2022, when he stormed to victory in the European Championships, he can normally be located between 10th and 20th in the world. Despite reaching a new high ranking of 9th last year, he has seen himself plummet back down to 21st by the end of the year.

A large part of that is due to his poor major form. A defeat in his opening round game limited his movement up the rankings, and early exits in the Masters, UK Open and most recently the World Matchplay seem to have significantly held him back from pushing the top 10.

Despite this poor TV form, Smudger finds himself up to world number 14. This is through his much more reliable European and Pro Tour form. On the floor, Smith has gone on to win one title, which he completed in incredible fashion, pinning two nine-darters and winning 24 consecutive legs on the way to triumph in Hildesheim. Along with this victory, he has reached the last eight seven times. This consistent form sees him sit seventh in the Pro Tour order of merit.

He sits one place better in the European Tour order of merit, a couple of thousand pounds behind Gary Anderson and Jonny Clayton in joint third. Surprisingly, Smith has failed to win a Euro Tour event in his distinguished career. In the last two years, he has reached three finals but tasted defeat in all of them. This year, his final loss came in Austria at the hands of Martin Schindler.

A semi-final and two quarter-finals prove Smith is not to be messed around with when on the oche. When at his best, you will be able to hear the triple 20 bed cry out in pain. If Smith is to progress up the rankings back into the top 10, he needs to resolve his TV form and get back to where he was when he surprised the darting world back in 2022.

Ryan Searle has enjoyed a mixed bag this year. Up into the top 20, he would rather be looking up than down, but that may depend on if he can regain his best form, which has seen him win six titles in the past.

One of those came in Players Championship four, averaging over a ton in the final to fend off Cameron Menzies. He also achieved a semi-final two events prior, but he has since only made it to one quarter-final. He sits 16th in the Pro Tour order of merit, just above Littler. He is in a good position to qualify for the Players Championships and the Grand Prix, but it is more touch-and-go when it comes to Europe.

For now, he has sneaked into the top 32 with five events left. He will be hoping for higher ranking seeds to drop out so he can get a bye through to the second round, automatically placing more money on his record without him even picking up a dart. He will need this, as his form in Europe has not been great. Just the one quarter-final is not what Searle would have wanted, especially compared to last year, when he made the final session eight times, including in Switzerland, where he missed multiple match darts to claim his maiden European Tour title.

With Searle only defending 24% of his prize money for the remainder of the year, he could use this opportunity to rise above others ahead of him who have the pressure of holding onto more. It is also an important time for him to build up some cash, with him having to defend over £200k next year.

It feels like we have seen a rejuvenated Aspinall this year. This started with a quarter-final run in the World Championships, losing out to Littler. A solid campaign in the Premier League followed, where he pushed eventual champion Humphries in the semi-final before eventually being beaten out of it. He also made a World Series final in America, losing out to Cool Hand Luke 8-6.

Adding to this, he has finally broken his curse on the European tour, finally winning an event by taking down Ryan Joyce in the final. He went on to double his tally in Leverkusen, this time edging out Australian number one Damon Heta.

You would think that after a year The Asp has had, he is bound to move up the rankings, and for a while he was. But his poor form had finally crept up on him as he saw himself tumble down the rankings after he failed to defend most of his money from his World Matchplay victory two years ago.

Now down to 23rd in the world, Aspinall is looking to carry on all the hard work he has done this year to rise back up the rankings. This could be easier said than done. Not in a provisional spot for the Players Championship finals, the former UK Open champion sits 73rd after only having competed in eight events, achieving a final in his last tournament.

However, he is a shoo-in for the Grand Prix and tops the European tour order of merit. While a recent drop in the rankings may be bad news, The Asp should not be counted out, with him having found his best form again, and now eyeing up a successful end to the year.

A worst darters' nightmare is playing Joyce and seeing him left on 32. There is normally only one way it goes - Ryan Joyce winning the game. His scoring power has come on leaps and bounds in recent times, which has helped him rise into the top 32 for the first time in his career after reaching the semi-finals of the Grand Prix last year - highlighting that double strength.

He continued his good form into 2025, having reached a European Tour final, before going on to reach the final session in his next two outings. Since his Austrian Open semi-final, his form has plateaued out. Three European Tours with early exits, and a disappointing first-round defeat to Stephen Bunting in an average display.

He is in line to qualify for all the major events at the end of the year, minus the Grand Slam, which will see a lot of money coming in before even picking up a dart. With almost £50k to defend at the end of the year, along with over half his prize money to protect next year, this could be an important period coming up for Joyce if he wants to stick around in the top 32 for a little longer.

It has been a solid year so far for Andrew Gilding, currently sitting in 25th in the PDC order of merit. He was destined to drop down after losing a huge chunk of his prize money to the UK Open victory two years ago. Unfortunately, he could not make it past the fourth round.

The highlight of the year was pushing Littler all the way in the World Matchplay quarter-final. He overcame Heta and Dirk van Duijvenbode before he took on the Nuke, narrowly losing out 16-14 despite hitting three ton+ checkouts and averaging over 98.

He managed to make a Euro Tour final in Sindelfingen, but was whitewashed against Gary Anderson. In the other tournaments in Europe, he has failed to make it past the third round. On the floor, he has made the quarter-finals five times, going through to the semis on four of those occasions.

Goldfinger is likely to feature in the big TV tournaments at the end of the year, with still a Grand Prix quarter-final to defend. If he cannot defend that money and not go on deep runs in any of the other events, then he may be at risk of leaving the top 32, depending on what his rivals around him do.

Last year was a dream come true for Ritchie Edhouse, who not only won his first major in the form of the European Championships against Jermaine Wattimena, but he reached the top 32 in the world, and is still there to this day, sitting in 28th.

With very little to defend for the rest of the year, there is a good chance that Madhouse will stay there for at least a little bit longer, but going into 2026, it could look more complicated with him having almost 80% of his prize money on the line.

He has failed to kick on this year, not making it to the final day of any European Tour event, and only reaching one quarter-final on the Pro Tour. This has led him to be outside the top 64 in the race to Minehead, but Edhouse still has 13 events to rise back up.

He is almost £15k away from the Grand Prix, with the cut-off for that being the 28th September. However, he is in a provisional place in the European Championship finals, but will have to improve his form on stage to stay there. It is a big period coming up for Edhouse, with danger in sliding down the rankings if he cannot muster up more wins.

Luke Woodhouse was defeated in the European Championships semi-finals by Edhouse, and since then has had a similar campaign. Also finding his way into the top 32 for the first time this year, he sits just inside as the 31st-ranked player in the world. His ranking has been helped by a semi-final in the European Darts Grand Prix, losing out 7-3 to Gilding.

He has made three quarter-finals on the Pro Tour, only advancing to one semi-final from this in Hildesheim. He has been unable to push himself deeper into the top 32, and despite having a £25k buffer to Menzies, he is in need of a good end to the year to make sure he stays up there.

With £65k planned to come off, Woodhouse is defending a chunk of that from his Players Championships quarter-final two years ago. He is in a comfortable position to qualify for that, as well as the European Championships and the Grand Prix. Whether he is able to turn his form around and cement his place in the top 32 is a different story.