Order of Merit update: Van Gerwen and Humphries rise in world rankings after Players Championship Finals

Michael van Gerwen and Luke Humphries both moved up one spot in the world rankings after the Players Championship Finals. In both cases, it was at the expense of Peter Wright, who fell back to fourth place.

Humphries was too strong for Van Gerwen in the final match of the tournament in Minehead on Sunday night after a sensational match. 'Cool Hand Luke' turned a 5-9 deficit into an 11-9 victory over the Dutchman. With this victory, Humphries can now call himself the number three player in the world.

Van Gerwen now firmly returns to second place. The Dutchman now only has to surpass reigning world champion Michael Smith. 'Bullyboy' heads to the upcoming World Darts Championship in December as world number one. Former world champion Gerwyn Price is now fifth, while World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall is number six in the world.

Dirk van Duijvenbode had to drop two places and is now 12th on the PDC Order of Merit. James Wade moved up one place after his quarterfinal finish, while Dave Chisnall also moved up one place. Ross Smith is making his entry into the top-16 of the world rankings, while Chris Dobey (+1) and Stephen Bunting (+3) are also making progress. That came at the expense of Ryan Searle, who fell three places down.

Slightly down the rankings, we see that Ryan Joyce has moved up six places after reaching the semifinals at the Players Championship Finals. He is now ranked No. 35 in the world. Luke Woodhouse cleverly made it to the quarter-finals, leaving him just one spot outside the top-32. Gian van Veen is growing steadily. He gained another four places and is now 45th in the rankings.