PDC Order of Merit Update | Wessel Nijman reaches career high after Slovak title as only Luke Littler beats 2026 prize-money surge

Wessel Nijman has climbed to a career-high 14th on the PDC Order of Merit after winning the first ever Slovak Darts Open title in Bratislava. The 25-year-old beat Rob Cross 8-3 in Sunday night’s final to claim his second European Tour crown, adding £35,000 to his ranking total and moving past Ross Smith on the world rankings. It continues a remarkable 2026 rise for Nijman, who is now firmly established inside the world’s top 16.

His prize-money surge has been one of the biggest ranking stories of the season. Since the World Masters at the start of February, Nijman has earned £246,000 in ranking money. Only world champion Luke Littler has collected more in that period, with £260,000. Nijman now has more than £550,000 on the two-year Order of Merit, with his Slovak Darts Open triumph becoming his eighth PDC ranking title of 2026.

That puts him in rare company. Only Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen and Peter Wright had previously won eight or more ProTour titles in a single season, and Nijman still has 18 ProTour events left on the calendar to push that total even higher.

The speed of his climb has also changed his position in the bigger ranking picture. Nijman is no longer merely chasing the seeded places. He is now inside them, with a first full World Matchplay campaign as one of the players around whom the draw could be shaped.

Nijman’s rise to 14th comes at an important point in the race towards the World Matchplay.

The top 16 players on the main Order of Merit will be seeded at Blackpool, where they are drawn against the top 16 qualifiers from the ProTour Order of Merit over the previous 12 months. If Nijman remains 14th after Players Championship 24, the final ranking update before the World Matchplay, he would be on course for a possible second-round meeting with Gian van Veen, currently the world number three.

That position could also keep him away from Luke Humphries in the early stages, depending on the final seedings. After his Slovak Darts Open title, Nijman’s place among the seeded names looks increasingly secure.

Cross also moved in the right direction after a strong week of his own. The former world champion returned to 20th in the world, the same position he occupied at the start of 2026, after winning Players Championship 22 in Wigan and then reaching the final in Bratislava.

Those two runs earned Cross £30,000 in total and took him above both Mike De Decker and Damon Heta. Cross averaged 102.57 in the Slovak Darts Open final despite losing to Nijman, and his latest rise comes just before his return to Blackpool for the World Matchplay.

Heta dropped two places to 22nd after losing to Kevin Doets at the Slovak Darts Open. Despite reaching two European Tour semi-finals this season, the Australian is still waiting for a first Players Championship quarter-final of 2026.

Michael Smith’s fall outside the world’s top 32 remains one of the most striking ranking movements of the week, although his position has already been covered in greater depth separately. The former world champion is now 33rd after failing to qualify for the Slovak Darts Open. Smith, who was world number one in 2023, has not won a ranking title since May 2024 and has reached only one final in that period.

Dave Chisnall also lost ground. The Englishman slipped to 27th, five places lower than where he began the year, after beating Slovak qualifier Adrian Dudek in Bratislava before losing to Jermaine Wattimena in the second round.

Andrew Gilding and Daryl Gurney both moved past Chisnall, with Gilding climbing to 25th after reaching his third European Tour quarter-final of 2026. The former UK Open champion has now earned £111,250 since the World Masters, with his first ProTour title at Players Championship 16 among the standout results of his season.

Tom Sykes was another major climber after a dream European Tour debut in Bratislava. The 33-year-old reached the semi-finals, banking £10,000 and jumping eight places to 82nd in the world.

That makes Sykes the third-highest ranked player among this season’s new Tour Card holders. Only Cristo Reyes, now 76th, and two-time Women’s World Matchplay champion Beau Greaves, currently 78th, sit above him among that group.

Nijman remains the headline movement, with the Dutchman now up to 14th, second only to Littler for ranking money earned since early February, and heading towards the World Matchplay as one of the form players of the season.