PDC European Tour Order of Merit: Littler, Humphries and Clayton confirmed in Dortmund, Bunting on the cusp

Monday, 12 October 2026 at 08:00

Jonny Clayton has climbed the European Tour Order of Merit after winning the Swiss Darts Trophy. The Welshman moved up to fourth in the rankings, which determine the 32 players who qualify for the European Darts Championship in Dortmund.

Ross Smith remains the clear leader and is already guaranteed to finish top after fourteen of the fifteen European Tour events. Meanwhile, the battle for the final European Championship places promises to be particularly tense next week.

Clayton enjoyed an excellent weekend in Basel. “The Ferret” opened his campaign with a convincing 6-1 win over Maik Kuivenhoven, then defeated Rob Cross (6-4), Karel Sedlacek (6-2) and Gian van Veen (7-4). In the final, he proved too strong for Luke Humphries, winning 8-4.

The tournament victory earned Clayton £35,000 in prize money. That took his total European Tour earnings this season to £86,000, enough for fourth place in the standings.

Ross Smith cannot be caught

First place in the European Tour Order of Merit has now been decided. Ross Smith has already collected £153,000 this season and cannot be overtaken at the final tournament.

The Englishman has won two European Tour titles this year and will therefore be the top seed at the European Darts Championship, held in Dortmund from 22 to 25 October. It is a special tournament for Smith, who won his first major PDC title there in 2022.

Ross Smith holds the European Championship trophy

Ross Smith surprisingly won the European Darts Championship in 2022

Wessel Nijman is second in the rankings. The Dutchman has earned £116,000 this season, giving him a comfortable advantage over Krzysztof Ratajski, who occupies third place with £89,500.

Nathan Aspinall and Josh Rock follow Clayton in fifth and sixth place. Luke Littler is seventh, despite playing only three European Tour events this season. “The Nuke” won two of those three tournaments.

Humprhries was on another level at times in Basel but failed to seal the title in Basel thanks to the brilliance of Clayton in the final. He is safely into Dortmund as he searches for a first European Championship after losing in the final last year.

Luke Woodhouse and Danny Noppert round off the top 10. The likes of Gian van Veen, James Wade, Gerwyn Price, Ryan Joyce, Micahael van Gerwen, James Wade, Rob Cross, Chris Dobey, Niko Springer, Ryan Searle and Andrew Gilding are safe for Dortmund.

Exciting battle for the final European Championship places

Stephen Bunting currently occupies 32nd place, the final position that qualifies for the European Darts Championship. The Englishman has earned £33,000 on the European Tour this season.

His lead over the first player outside the qualification places is small. Karel Sedlacek is 33rd with £31,000, just £2,000 behind Bunting.

Stephen Bunting is still not confirmed to be in the European Championship

Joe Cullen (£29,500), Michael Smith (£27,000) and Sebastian Bialecki (£26,000) are also still in contention for a place. The final tournament in Maastricht will be crucial for all three players.

Read also

The Dutch Darts Championship is the fifteenth and final European Tour event of 2026. Once it ends, the final standings will be confirmed and all 32 participants in the European Darts Championship will be known.

PDC European Tour Order of Merit

Rank	Name	Prize money
1	Ross Smith	153
2	Wessel Nijman	116
3	Krzysztof Ratajski	89.5
4	Jonny Clayton	86
5	Nathan Aspinall	82
6	Josh Rock	76
7	Luke Littler	75
8	Luke Humphries	75
9	Luke Woodhouse	73
10	Danny Noppert	72
11	Gian van Veen	71
12	Kevin Doets	68.5
13	James Wade	66
14	Gerwyn Price	65
15	Ryan Joyce	64.5
16	Jermaine Wattimena	58
17	Damon Heta	57
18	Michael van Gerwen	56
19	Rob Cross	54
20	Niels Zonneveld	52.5
21	Chris Dobey	49
22	William O'Connor	46
23	Niko Springer	45.5
24	Ryan Searle	45
25	Dirk van Duijvenbode	44
26	Andrew Gilding	43
27	Cristo Reyes	40
28	Cameron Menzies	37
29	Dave Chisnall	37
30	Kim Huybrechts	34.5
31	Martin Schindler	34.5
32	Stephen Bunting	33
33	Karel Sedlacek	31
34	Joe Cullen	29.5
35	Michael Smith	27
36	Sebastian Bialecki	26
37	Daryl Gurney	22
38	Keane Barry	19.5
39	Ricky Evans	19
40	Bradley Brooks	18.5
41	Mensur Suljovic	18.5
42	Mickey Mansell	16.5
43	Jeffrey de Graaf	16
44	Madars Razma	16
45	Gary Anderson	15
46	James Hurrell	13.5
47	Tom Sykes	13.5
48	Maik Kuivenhoven	13
49	Andy Baetens	11.5
50	Mike De Decker	11.5
51	Ian White	11.5
52	Rob Owen	11
53	Connor Scutt	11
54	Ricardo Pietreczko	10.5
55	Richard Veenstra	10
56	Stephen Burton	9.5
57	Callan Rydz	9.5
58	Mario Vandenbogaerde	9.5
59	Lukas Wenig	9.5
60	Paul Krohne	9.5
61	Ritchie Edhouse	9
62	Boris Krcmar	8.5
63	Jimmy van Schie	8
64	Beau Greaves	7.5
65	Chris Landman	7.5
66	Jonas Masalin	7.5
67	Max Hopp	7.5
68	Alan Soutar	7.5
69	Adam Gawlas	7.5
70	Jeffrey De Zwaan	7.5
71	Tom Bissell	7
72	Jim Long	7
73	Brendan Dolan	7
74	Jan Schmidt	7
75	Justin Hood	7
76	Patrik Kovacs	7
77	Nick Kenny	6
78	Raymond van Barneveld	6
79	Johan Engstrom	6
80	Gabriel Clemens	5.5
81	Nandor Major	5.5
82	Dragutin Horvat	5.5
83	Charlie Manby	5.5
84	Darius Labanauskas	5.5
85	Tyler Thorpe	5.5
86	Marcel Hausotter	5.5
87	Michael Unterbuchner	5.5
88	Owen Bates	4
89	Scott Williams	4
90	Krzysztof Kciuk	4
91	Gyorgy Jehirszki	4
92	Jani Haavisto	4
92	Sietse Lap	4
94	Samuel Price	4
95	Daniel Klose	4
96	Christian Kist	4
97	Finn Behrens	4
98	Anton Ostlund	4
99	Thomas Lovely	4
100	Stefan Bellmont	3.5
101	Laszlo Kadar	3.5
102	Benjamin Pratnemer	3.5
103	Dimitri Van den Bergh	3.5
104	Peter Wright	3.5
105	Oskar Lukasiak	3.5
105	Valters Melderis	3.5
107	Ryan Meikle	3.5
108	Darryl Pilgrim	3.5
109	Alex Fehlmann	2
109	Bruno Stoeckli	2
109	Roman Wellinger	2
112	Jaimy Jacobs	2
112	Jeroen Caron	2
112	Kevin Lankhuizen	2
112	Michael Hansen	2
112	Petr Tous	2
117	David Rosi	2
117	Jiri Brejcha	2
117	Martin Homola	2
120	Adam Leek	2
120	Andras Borbely	2
120	David Pisek	2
120	Milan Biro	2
124	Dominik Gruellich	2
124	Jaimy Van de Weerd	2
124	Michal Smejda	2
124	Mio Varila	2
124	Rhys Griffin	2
129	Adrian Dudek	2
129	Gabriel Varaljay	2
129	Jan Sliacky	2
129	Juraj Holub	2
129	Mervyn King	2
129	Peter Kelemen	2
135	Jason Riedtke	2
135	Teemu Harju	2
137	Jeffrey Sparidaans	2
137	Liam Maendl-Lawrance	2
139	Aaron Hardy	2
139	Nick Zwittnigg	2
139	Zoran Lerchbacher	2
142	Jurjen van der Velde	2
142	Michael Hurtz	2
142	Petr Krivka	2
142	Robin Masino	2
146	Adam Lipscombe	2
146	Cor Dekker	2
146	Kevin Troppmann	2
149	Francois Schweyen	2
149	Pascal Devroey	2
149	Thibault Tricole	2
152	Cam Crabtree	2
152	Florian Hempel	2
152	Florian Preis	2
152	Kai Gotthardt	2
152	Shane McGuirk	2
152	Wojciech Brulinski	2
158	Andreas Harrysson	2
158	Carl Sneyd	2
158	Dawid Robak	2
158	Marvin Kraft	2
158	Miroslaw Grudziecki	2
158	Piotr Maciejczak	2

Source: dartsrankings.com

Lucas MichaelDarts Journalist

Lucas Michael is a darts journalist and reporter based in Cambridge, UK, and has been part of the DartsNews team since 2025. He covers professional darts through reports, analysis, round-ups, and live coverage, with a focus on clear context and accurate reporting across the PDC calendar.

A key part of his work is liveblogging major tournaments throughout the year, providing real-time updates, match coverage, and contextual reporting across the professional circuit. He also reports regularly from events on site and has covered the PDC World Darts Championship from the venue, delivering first-hand insight throughout the tournament.

Within the newsroom, Lucas works closely with the editorial team and supports coverage alongside Chief Content Officer Samuel Gill and reporter Kieran Wood.

Lucas holds a BA (Hons) in Sports Journalism. In his work, he places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating content promptly when new, verified information becomes available.

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