PDC Order of Merit update: Josh Rock makes top 10 debut, Luke Humphries remains ahead in Luke Littler World No.1 battle

With just a few months to go until the start of the PDC World Darts Championship, it's time to take a look at the PDC Order of Merit as Josh Rock and Niko Springer shine.

Luke Humphries - who stranded in the quarterfinals last weekend - still remains the number one ranked player in the world. Cool Hand Luke, however, is feeling the hot breath of Luke Littler on his neck. The 18-year-old Englishman is close to the 250000 pound mark of his compatriot. Littler has nothing to defend in the coming months - he only received his PDC Tour Card at the beginning of 2024 - and with some strong performances he can possibly take over the number one position before the start of the World Darts Championship.

The top three is completed by Michael van Gerwen. 'Mighty Mike' recently won a major TV tournament for the first time in two years, but the World Series of Darts Finals is not a ranking tournament and therefore does not count for the world rankings. Van Gerwen therefore trails Humphries and Littler by a very wide margin.

What else stands out in the top ten is the entry of Josh Rock in tenth place. 'Rocky' won the World Cup of Darts in mid-June alongside Daryl Gurney and seems to have been playing on a cloud ever since. The 24-year-old Northern Irishman consistently hits form every tournament and is missing perhaps one major run.

Who has made another nice jump in the world rankings is Danny Noppert. The Freeze' lost 8-7 to Niko Springer in the Hungarian Darts Trophy final last weekend. Yet this performance did not hurt Noppert, as he climbed two places in the world rankings. Noppert is now thirteenth and is still the second Dutchman in the world rankings.

Peter Wright - engaged in a disastrous year - is also still in the top 16. More to the point, he himself is rising - due to results from other players - to 15th place. Wright still has a lot of prize money to defend in the coming months, however, and with his current form, he seems likely to slip far down the world rankings by the start of the World Darts Championship.

Dave Chisnall is one of those names to fall. At one point he was in the top five and was a player that was unlucky to miss out on the Premier League but since then and his European Tour form, it has fallen apart and he is barely picking up wins. He may soon have to go to qualifiers for Euro Tours after being one of the top dogs for a long time. Martin Schindler is the next clipping on his heels and likely will take advantage of the falls.

He has often deputised in the top 16 this year when players withdraw from Euro Tours and albeit has a great ProTour ranking will hope to not play first round in those events come next season.

Notable names just outside the top 20 include former multiple major winners Michael Smith (21st), Dimitri Van den Bergh (22nd), Nathan Aspinall (23rd) and Daryl Gurney (26th). Joe Cullen has also once looked better than his current 27th place finish. The top 32 is currently closed by Dirk van Duijvenbode.

Raymond van Barneveld has currently just fallen out of that coveted top 32 and is ranked 34th. Van Barneveld showed signs of improvement last weekend - for example, he posted a 107.97 average in the second round against Dave Chisnall - but still lost in the third round to Gerwyn Price. Van Barneveld is on the verge of qualifying for some majors this fall, but still needs some good results in the coming weeks.

Kim Huybrechts did well last weekend. 'The Hurricane' was allowed to appear as a reserve at the Hungarian Darts Trophy and reached the third round. Huybrechts climbed two places in the world rankings to 48th place.

The biggest jump this weekend was made by Niko Springer. The 25-year-old German won his first PDC ranking title and rises to 66th in the world rankings. Moreover, Springer is only in the first year of his PDC Tour Card and has no prize money to defend both at the end of this year and all of next year.