PDC European Tour Order of Merit Update: Aspinall closing in on leading lights Nijman and Humphries as Michael Smith has renaissance weekend
PDCTuesday, 07 April 2026 at 08:44
In Munich, the fourth tournament of the 2026 European Tour, the German Darts Grand Prix, was on the schedule last weekend. The title went to Nathan Aspinall, who proved too strong for Danny Noppert in the final with an 8-5 win.
After their runs to the final at the German Darts Grand Prix, both men also move into the top 10 of the PDC European Tour Order of Merit. The top spot, however, still belongs to the Englishman Luke Humphries. “Cool Hand Luke” skipped last weekend, but with £45,000 in prize money he still holds a £2,000 lead over second-placed Wessel Nijman.
Aspinall hot on Nijman’s heels
Nijman went out straight away last weekend and sees Aspinall close to within £3,000. Littler, who like Humphries skipped the German Darts Grand Prix last weekend, sits fourth and is also only narrowly behind Nijman and Humphries.
The top five is completed by Niels Zonneveld. The 27-year-old Dutchman is putting together a superb year on the European Tour. After two semi-finals earlier, he reached the quarterfinals last weekend. Zonneveld has now collected £31,500 in prize money this year.
Signs of life for Smith.
Noppert also makes a significant move in the standings and climbs to sixth after his runner-up finish. “The Freeze” is thus the fourth Dutchman in the top 10. Also notable is Michael Smith’s top-10 position. The former world champion has been struggling and has slipped to 31st in the world rankings. Last weekend, however, he showed signs of improvement with a quarterfinal spot.
The top 32 after the 15 tournaments of the 2026 PDC European Tour will ultimately qualify for the European Championship. Van Veen will defend his title at that event, having edged Humphries 11-10 in last year’s final.
Notable names outside the top 32
A few notable players currently outside that top 32 are Stephen Bunting (34th), Dave Chisnall (39th), Joe Cullen (41st), Mike De Decker (60th), Rob Cross and Raymond van Barneveld (joint 69th). Gary Anderson is not even on the list at the moment because he has not played a single tournament yet.
The next European Tour event is scheduled for the weekend of 17/4/2026 to 19/4/2026, when the European Darts Grand Prix takes place in Sindelfingen, Germany. Gary Anderson starts that tournament as the defending champion after he beat Andrew Gilding 8-0 in last year’s final.
PDC European Tour Order of Merit
| Rank | Name | Prize money |
| 1 | Luke Humphries | 45 |
| 2 | Wessel Nijman | 43 |
| 3 | Nathan Aspinall | 40 |
| 4 | Luke Littler | 40 |
| 5 | Niels Zonneveld | 31.5 |
| 6 | Danny Noppert | 28 |
| 7 | Jonny Clayton | 28 |
| 8 | Chris Dobey | 23 |
| 9 | Josh Rock | 21 |
| 10 | Michael Smith | 20 |
| 11 | Ross Smith | 20 |
| 12 | Gian van Veen | 20 |
| 13 | Krzysztof Ratajski | 17 |
| 14 | Dirk van Duijvenbode | 16.5 |
| 15 | Kevin Doets | 15 |
| 16 | Jermaine Wattimena | 15 |
| 17 | Gerwyn Price | 15 |
| 18 | Kim Huybrechts | 14 |
| 19 | Cristo Reyes | 14 |
| 20 | Niko Springer | 13 |
| 21 | William O'Connor | 12 |
| 22 | Daryl Gurney | 12 |
| 23 | Luke Woodhouse | 12 |
| 24 | Andrew Gilding | 11.5 |
| 25 | Ryan Joyce | 11.5 |
| 26 | Martin Schindler | 10 |
| 27 | Michael van Gerwen | 10 |
| 28 | Ryan Searle | 10 |
| 29 | Damon Heta | 10 |
| 30 | Boris Krcmar | 8.5 |
| 30 | Cameron Menzies | 8.5 |
| 32 | Andy Baetens | 8 |
| 33 | Richard Veenstra | 8 |
| 34 | Stephen Bunting | 8 |
| 35 | Paul Krohne | 7.5 |
| 36 | Mickey Mansell | 7.5 |
| 37 | Sebastian Bialecki | 7.5 |
| 38 | Karel Sedlacek | 7 |
| 39 | Dave Chisnall | 7 |
| 39 | Ricky Evans | 7 |
| 41 | Joe Cullen | 7 |
| 42 | Ian White | 6 |
| 43 | Ritchie Edhouse | 5.5 |
| 44 | Lukas Wenig | 5.5 |
| 45 | Adam Gawlas | 5.5 |
| 46 | Mensur Suljovic | 5 |
| 47 | Michael Unterbuchner | 4 |
| 48 | Finn Behrens | 4 |
| 49 | Anton Ostlund | 4 |
| 49 | James Hurrell | 4 |
| 51 | Jeffrey De Zwaan | 4 |
| 51 | Keane Barry | 4 |
| 53 | Thomas Lovely | 4 |
| 54 | Brendan Dolan | 3.5 |
| 54 | Marcel Hausotter | 3.5 |
| 54 | Patrik Kovacs | 3.5 |
| 54 | Ricardo Pietreczko | 3.5 |
| 58 | Ryan Meikle | 3.5 |
| 59 | Darius Labanauskas | 3.5 |
| 60 | Connor Scutt | 3.5 |
| 60 | Darryl Pilgrim | 3.5 |
| 60 | Mike De Decker | 3.5 |
| 63 | Liam Maendl-Lawrance | 2 |
| 64 | Alan Soutar | 2 |
| 64 | Chris Landman | 2 |
| 64 | Gabriel Clemens | 2 |
| 64 | Nick Kenny | 2 |
| 64 | Rob Owen | 2 |
| 69 | Jurjen van der Velde | 2 |
| 69 | Madars Razma | 2 |
| 69 | Maik Kuivenhoven | 2 |
| 69 | Michael Hurtz | 2 |
| 69 | Oskar Lukasiak | 2 |
| 69 | Raymond van Barneveld | 2 |
| 69 | Rob Cross | 2 |
| 69 | Robin Masino | 2 |
| 69 | Valters Melderis | 2 |
| 78 | Adam Lipscombe | 2 |
| 78 | Cor Dekker | 2 |
| 78 | Jan Schmidt | 2 |
| 78 | Kevin Troppmann | 2 |
| 78 | Stephen Burton | 2 |
| 83 | Francois Schweyen | 2 |
| 83 | Jani Haavisto | 2 |
| 83 | Pascal Devroey | 2 |
| 83 | Scott Williams | 2 |
| 83 | Sietse Lap | 2 |
| 83 | Thibault Tricole | 2 |
| 83 | Tyler Thorpe | 2 |
| 90 | Cam Crabtree | 2 |
| 90 | Dragutin Horvat | 2 |
| 90 | Florian Hempel | 2 |
| 90 | Florian Preis | 2 |
| 90 | Jonas Masalin | 2 |
| 90 | Kai Gotthardt | 2 |
| 90 | Mario Vandenbogaerde | 2 |
| 90 | Shane McGuirk | 2 |
| 90 | Wojciech Brulinski | 2 |
| 99 | Andreas Harrysson | 2 |
| 99 | Callan Rydz | 2 |
| 99 | Carl Sneyd | 2 |
| 99 | Dawid Robak | 2 |
| 99 | Jeffrey de Graaf | 2 |
| 99 | Krzysztof Kciuk | 2 |
| 99 | Marvin Kraft | 2 |
| 99 | Miroslaw Grudziecki | 2 |
| 99 | Piotr Maciejczak | 2 |
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- Well,he doesn't want to play in Germany,and now he's letting things get to him. I appreciate he's a fantastic player,he's won loads,but perhaps he should perhaps learn to grow up a bit and realise whoever you are,you can't win every single match.rick6703-04-2026
- I'm afraid the physique of Mr littler is not that of an elite sportsman. Remember when he was on kebabs and burgers,and proudly announced it? He's still a great player thoughrick6726-03-2026
- Yeah it was exciting when it started back around 05. Now its just a punish every week. Take it up to 12 players, and bottom 2 drop out after everyone has played once. No need for finals etc every week. At that stage make it first to 7 instead of 6 to take up the timeslot.Cameron.W14-03-2026
- Honestly,who cares? This league should be scrapped. It's just a money spinner for PDC and sky. How on earth can 8 players do this every week,and leave the rest behind? It's a bit shameful really. Anyone can win against anyone,but not every week. Scrap itrick6712-03-2026
- depends on the tournament, easier to tune out at minehead where the acoustics aren't very good and half the crowd are pensioners. "keir starmer's a w*****" is their only good chant though, they should censor the rest and keep that one.colt09-03-2026
- I watched all of the UK open and didn't hear it. Does anyone actually listen to, or hear the crowd noise? I just tune it out as it gets quite annoying. If I have to hear "if you love the darts stand up" one more flippin' time.... Clearly everyone there loves the darts, they paid for tickets. Why they should stand up is beyond me (half of them are so bladdered they'd fall straight back down anyway) hahaha
DartsEnvy09-03-2026 - I can't answer why, only the PDC can. I do watch most of them on PDC TV - I have it on in the background when working from home haha. There can be some great moments in them like Beau's recent 9 darter etc. As for their significance, they all contribute to the players rankings with the winners of each day getting 15K, so they are important to their rankings as well as their overall earnings. Win 4 in a year and there's a nice 60K (runner up also gets 10K per day). Also I've seen so many interviews where players say they really enjoy it, because its "pure darts" without the spectacle and they can just get on with it. As per the original reply above, with the stage format playing in front of a bunch of booing drunkards, it's a nice change of pace and can aid concentration. So I can perfectly understand why the players like it so much - it's a good earner, not quite as late nights and very quiet / pure.DartsEnvy09-03-2026
- Would love if podcast was available on youtube. Dont have spotify.kangacheckoutz03-03-2026
- ah ok, that helps put it in context, cheersMrMarkWatsonnonotthatone28-02-2026
- Any IDeaS.....richieburnettrocks28-02-2026
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