The first six months of the PDC season are in the books, marking a natural checkpoint in the race towards the 2027 World Darts Championship. While the key televised tournaments are still to come, a large part of the Pro Tour season has already been completed. As a result, it is becoming increasingly clear which players are on track for a ticket to Alexandra Palace and which big names must seriously fear missing the biggest darts tournament of the year.
This year’s field in London again features 128 players. Unlike several years ago, all participants start from the first round. The line-up is composed of the top 40 on the PDC Order of Merit, the top 40 on the Pro Tour Order of Merit, and 48 international qualifiers. The latter group emerges from
secondary PDC rankings, international circuits, and qualifiers, once more creating a global field with darters from every part of the world.
The bulk of the Pro Tour season is now behind us. After six months,
22 of the 34 Players Championship events have been played, while nine of the fifteen Euro Tours have also been completed. That means the qualification race has largely taken shape, though it should be noted that the lucrative majors are staged in the second half of the season. Those can still trigger major shifts on the world rankings.
That matters not only for qualification, but also for the World Championship draw. The higher a player sits on the PDC Order of Merit, the more favorable his position in the bracket. The number 32 seed knows, on paper, he could already run into the world number one in the third round.
Luke Littler locked in as top seed at Ally Pally
One thing is now certain:
Luke Littler will head to the Worlds as the top seed once again. The English world champion won the last two editions of the World Championship, and the prize money he earned there carries such weight on the world rankings that the chasing pack has no realistic chance of catching him for now. On the live rankings, his lead is now close to two million pounds.
Behind him, however, a notable battle is unfolding. Gian van Veen currently sits third on the official PDC Order of Merit, but occupies second place on the live World Championship ranking. The runner-up at the last world title showdown holds a lead of over £100,000 on Luke Humphries, who must currently settle for third.
Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price are also on course for places in the top five of the seedings. That would mean both Welshmen, if the rankings remain unchanged, land in the same half of the draw as Littler. James Wade currently rounds out the live top six.
Luke Littler won the last two editions of the World Darts Championship
Van Gerwen at risk of sliding further
The most striking name near the top of the live world rankings is undoubtedly
Michael van Gerwen. For years, the Dutchman was the ever-present at the summit of the PDC Order of Merit. Between January 2014 and January 2021 he
held the number one spot without interruption, after which he remained second or third for years.
That era appears to be over for now. At the moment, Van Gerwen sits seventh on the live list, and there is even a chance he could slip further in the coming months. That is entirely tied to the prize money he must defend in the second half of the season.
The World Championship in particular poses a major risk. Van Gerwen reached the final at the start of 2024 and will have to defend that hefty haul. If he fails to do so, even a drop out of the world’s top sixteen is possible.
Nijman making huge strides as Wright and Smith teeter on the edge
While Van Gerwen threatens to lose ground, Wessel Nijman is mounting an impressive surge. At the last World Championship he started
as world number 31, but thanks to an excellent Pro Tour season he has now climbed to ninth on the live world rankings.
Albeit the strides also leave several big names outside the seeded bracket. Peter Wright is currently 34th, while former world champion Michael Smith sits only 37th on the live list.
Peter Wright seems likely to miss out on seedings.
Pro Tour offers plenty of opportunities
In addition to the world rankings, the Pro Tour Order of Merit is also a key route to Alexandra Palace. The best forty players not yet qualified via the world rankings will likewise receive a World Championship ticket.
On that list, Kim Huybrechts is the standout surprise for now. The Belgian is enjoying an impressive resurgence and tops the cleaned Pro Tour ranking. That puts him on course for his sixteenth consecutive World Championship appearance and, for the moment, he is the only Belgian to qualify via this route.
The second spot also immediately catches the eye. Cristo Reyes returned this season as a Tour Card holder after six years away and looks set to book his place at Alexandra Palace straightaway.
One of the season’s biggest stories is Beau Greaves. In her first year as a Tour Card holder, the Englishwoman has already won a Players Championship event and has racked up £55,250 in prize money on the floor. That puts Greaves a fine third on the Pro Tour Order of Merit and nothing appears to be standing in the way of a World Championship debut.
Beau Greaves is third on ProTour Order of Merit.
The current top 40 also features several familiar names. Max Hopp looks on his way to a World Championship spot, while Mensur Suljovic and Ian White also have strong credentials to return to the sport’s biggest stage. Ricky Evans and Mervyn King are also above the cut for now, but cannot afford a dip in form over the coming months.
Other familiar faces such as Ian White, Alan Soutar, Keane Barry, Charlie Manby, James Hurrell among others are also high up in these lists and are likely certainties.
A special milestone beckons for several players as well. Based on the current standings, Tom Bissell, Tom Sykes, Joe Hunt, Darryl Pilgrim, Shane McGuirk, Tommy Morris, Jimmy van Schie, and Martijn Dragt can realistically dream of a debut at Alexandra Palace.
International spots largely still open
The battle for international tickets has yet to truly ignite. Many secondary PDC Tours are only decided later in the season and most international qualifiers still have to be played.
As a result, only two international entrants are confirmed for now. David Cameron secured his place by winning the CDC Continental Cup, while Adam Sevada clinched his World Championship ticket by taking the North American Darts Championship.
Over the coming months, the international field will therefore gradually fill up further.
Big names face missing out
Although there are still a significant number of tournaments to come, several well-known names now find themselves in a worrying position.
The biggest name outside the virtual field at the moment is
Raymond van Barneveld. The five-time world champion sits only 44th on the virtual world rankings and is also down in 77th place on the Pro Tour Order of Merit. A tough task awaits him, as Van Barneveld still needs to make up at least £10,000 to reach the top 40 of the Pro Tour ranking.
Dimitri Van den Bergh is also on the outside looking in for now. The Belgian has played the World Championship in each of the last eleven editions, but is enduring a difficult season. On the virtual world rankings he sits only 59th, and he is 56th on the Pro Tour Order of Merit. His situation is not yet hopeless, though. The gap to the virtual number 40 is only £3,500, meaning a few good results could be enough to reconnect with the pack.
Scott Williams, Brendan Dolan, and Martin Lukeman are also outside the World Championship places at present.
Raymond van Barneveld has not yet virtually qualified for the World Darts Championship
Decisive months ahead
Although the outline of the World Championship field is becoming clearer, the qualification race is anything but settled. With twelve Players Championship events, six Euro Tours, and all the major TV tournaments still to come, there is everything to play for in the second half of the season.
For players currently above the cut, the focus now is on defending their position. For others, the task is clear: results must follow in the second half of the season to secure a place at Alexandra Palace.
Virtual PDC Order of Merit
| Rank | Name | Prize money (in units of £1,000) |
| 1 | Luke Littler | 2647 |
| 2 | Gian van Veen | 865.5 |
| 3 | Luke Humphries | 738.5 |
| 4 | Jonny Clayton | 599 |
| 5 | Gerwyn Price | 588 |
| 6 | James Wade | 548 |
| 7 | Michael van Gerwen | 538.75 |
| 8 | Josh Rock | 535 |
| 9 | Wessel Nijman | 518.25 |
| 10 | Ryan Searle | 517.25 |
| 11 | Stephen Bunting | 510.5 |
| 12 | Chris Dobey | 499 |
| 13 | Danny Noppert | 496.75 |
| 14 | Nathan Aspinall | 488.75 |
| 15 | Gary Anderson | 460.5 |
| 16 | Ross Smith | 426.5 |
| 17 | Luke Woodhouse | 421.25 |
| 18 | Krzysztof Ratajski | 382 |
| 19 | Jermaine Wattimena | 381 |
| 20 | Martin Schindler | 363.25 |
| 21 | Damon Heta | 349.25 |
| 22 | Rob Cross | 345 |
| 23 | Kevin Doets | 340 |
| 24 | Andrew Gilding | 329.75 |
| 25 | Ryan Joyce | 306.5 |
| 26 | Dirk van Duijvenbode | 291 |
| 27 | Daryl Gurney | 286 |
| 28 | Cameron Menzies | 282 |
| 29 | Joe Cullen | 267.25 |
| 30 | William O'Connor | 238 |
| 31 | Dave Chisnall | 235 |
| 32 | Niels Zonneveld | 228.5 |
| 33 | Niko Springer | 224.75 |
| 34 | Peter Wright | 212.25 |
| 35 | Ricardo Pietreczko | 206.25 |
| 36 | Mike De Decker | 204.75 |
| 37 | Michael Smith | 191.5 |
| 38 | Justin Hood | 181.5 |
| 39 | Callan Rydz | 179 |
| 40 | Madars Razma | 163.5 |
| 41 | Jeffrey de Graaf | 157.75 |
| 42 | Ricky Evans | 157 |
| 43 | James Hurrell | 154.75 |
| 44 | Raymond van Barneveld | 140.25 |
| 45 | Karel Sedlacek | 137.75 |
| 46 | Ian White | 137.5 |
| 47 | Kim Huybrechts | 134.25 |
| 48 | Gabriel Clemens | 133.75 |
| 49 | Mensur Suljovic | 132.5 |
| 50 | Connor Scutt | 130.5 |
Virtual PDC Pro Tour Order of Merit
| Rank | Name | Prize money (in units of £1,000) |
| 1 | Kim Huybrechts | 57.75 |
| 2 | Cristo Reyes | 57.75 |
| 3 | Beau Greaves | 55.25 |
| 4 | Sebastian Bialecki | 52.25 |
| 5 | Karel Sedlacek | 48.75 |
| 6 | Maik Kuivenhoven | 44.75 |
| 7 | Richard Veenstra | 44.5 |
| 8 | Tom Bissell | 44 |
| 9 | Jeffrey de Graaf | 41.25 |
| 10 | Tom Sykes | 38.75 |
| 11 | Max Hopp | 38.75 |
| 12 | Mensur Suljovic | 38.5 |
| 13 | Mickey Mansell | 36 |
| 14 | Rob Owen | 35.75 |
| 15 | Connor Scutt | 35.75 |
| 16 | Ian White | 34.75 |
| 17 | Alan Soutar | 34.5 |
| 18 | Keane Barry | 33.75 |
| 19 | Joe Hunt | 33.5 |
| 20 | Charlie Manby | 32.25 |
| 21 | Darius Labanauskas | 31.75 |
| 22 | Lukas Wenig | 31.25 |
| 23 | Gabriel Clemens | 30 |
| 24 | Darryl Pilgrim | 29 |
| 25 | Ritchie Edhouse | 28 |
| 26 | Christian Kist | 28 |
| 27 | James Hurrell | 27.5 |
| 28 | Jimmy van Schie | 27 |
| 29 | Alexander Merkx | 26 |
| 30 | Jim Long | 25.25 |
| 31 | Ricky Evans | 24.5 |
| 32 | Mervyn King | 23.75 |
| 33 | Thibault Tricole | 22.5 |
| 34 | Adam Gawlas | 22.5 |
| 35 | Shane McGuirk | 22.25 |
| 36 | Tommy Morris | 21 |
| 37 | Jurjen van der Velde | 21 |
| 38 | Andy Boulton | 20.75 |
| 39 | Cam Crabtree | 20.25 |
| 40 | Martijn Dragt | 20.25 |
| 41 | Scott Waites | 20 |
| 42 | Brendan Dolan | 19.75 |
| 43 | Jeffrey Sparidaans | 19.25 |
| 44 | Thomas Lovely | 19.25 |
| 45 | Cor Dekker | 19.25 |
| 46 | Jeffrey De Zwaan | 19 |
| 47 | Adam Lipscombe | 19 |
| 48 | Mario Vandenbogaerde | 18.25 |
| 49 | Tyler Thorpe | 18.25 |
| 50 | David Sharp | 17.75 |
| 51 | Ryan Meikle | 17.75 |
| 52 | Chris Landman | 17.5 |
| 53 | Owen Bates | 17.25 |
| 54 | Leon Weber | 17.25 |
| 55 | Wesley Plaisier | 16.75 |
| 56 | Dimitri Van den Bergh | 16.75 |
| 57 | Nick Kenny | 16.75 |
| 58 | Bradley Brooks | 16.5 |
| 59 | Derek Coulson | 16.5 |
| 60 | Tommy Lishman | 16.25 |
| 61 | Stephen Burton | 16 |
| 62 | Niall Culleton | 15.25 |
| 63 | Arno Merk | 15.25 |
| 64 | Benjamin Pratnemer | 15 |
| 65 | Sietse Lap | 15 |
| 66 | Adam Leek | 14.75 |
| 67 | Jack Tweddell | 14.75 |
| 68 | Marvin van Velzen | 14.25 |
| 69 | Kai Gotthardt | 14 |
| 70 | Scott Williams | 13.75 |
| 71 | Viktor Tingstrom | 13.25 |
| 72 | Adam Paxton | 12.75 |
| 73 | Stephen Rosney | 12.5 |
| 74 | Rhys Griffin | 12 |
| 75 | Steve Lennon | 11.25 |
| 76 | Stefan Bellmont | 10.75 |
| 77 | Raymond van Barneveld | 10.75 |
| 78 | Greg Ritchie | 10.25 |
| 79 | Tavis Dudeney | 10.25 |
| 80 | Henry Coates | 9.75 |
| 81 | Harry Ward | 9.75 |
| 82 | Nathan Potter | 9.75 |
| 83 | Samuel Price | 9.5 |
| 84 | Paul Krohne | 9.5 |
| 85 | Carl Sneyd | 8.5 |
| 86 | Boris Krcmar | 8.5 |
| 87 | Daniel Klose | 8.25 |
| 88 | Yorick Hofkens | 8.25 |
| 89 | Pascal Rupprecht | 8.25 |
| 90 | Andy Baetens | 8 |
| 91 | Adam Warner | 7 |
| 92 | Marvin Kraft | 7 |
| 93 | Patrik Kovacs | 7 |
| 94 | Dennie Olde Kalter | 6.5 |
| 95 | Dominik Gruellich | 6.5 |
| 96 | Martin Lukeman | 5.75 |
| 97 | Oskar Lukasiak | 5.5 |
| 98 | Marcel Hausotter | 5.5 |
| 99 | Michael Unterbuchner | 5.5 |
| 100 | Maximilian Czerwinski | 5 |
| 101 | Tytus Kanik | 4.5 |
| 102 | Lewis Pride | 4.5 |
| 103 | Jonas Masalin | 4 |
| 104 | Jan Schmidt | 4 |
| 105 | Dragutin Horvat | 4 |
| 106 | Johan Engstrom | 4 |
| 107 | Finn Behrens | 4 |
| 108 | Callum Goffin | 4 |
| 109 | Anton Ostlund | 4 |
| 110 | Daniel Ayres | 3.75 |
| 111 | Filip Bereza | 3.75 |
| 112 | Valters Melderis | 3.5 |
| 113 | Jack Aldridge | 3.25 |
| 114 | Oliver Mitchell | 3 |
| 115 | Aden Kirk | 2.5 |
| 116 | Christopher Wickenden | 2.5 |
| 117 | Rusty-Jake Rodriguez | 2.5 |
| 118 | Jaimy Van de Weerd | 2 |
| 118 | Mio Varila | 2 |
| 120 | Adrian Dudek | 2 |
| 120 | Gabriel Varaljay | 2 |
| 120 | Jan Sliacky | 2 |
| 120 | Juraj Holub | 2 |
| 120 | Peter Kelemen | 2 |
| 125 | Jason Riedtke | 2 |
| 125 | Nandor Major | 2 |
| 125 | Teemu Harju | 2 |
| 128 | Gyorgy Jehirszki | 2 |
| 128 | Liam Maendl-Lawrance | 2 |
| 130 | Aaron Hardy | 2 |
| 130 | Nick Zwittnigg | 2 |
| 130 | Zoran Lerchbacher | 2 |
| 133 | Michael Hurtz | 2 |
| 133 | Petr Krivka | 2 |
| 133 | Robin Masino | 2 |
| 136 | Kevin Troppmann | 2 |
| 137 | Francois Schweyen | 2 |
| 137 | Jani Haavisto | 2 |
| 137 | Pascal Devroey | 2 |
| 140 | Florian Hempel | 2 |
| 140 | Florian Preis | 2 |
| 140 | Wojciech Brulinski | 2 |
| 143 | Stefaan Henderyck | 2 |
| 144 | Andreas Harrysson | 2 |
| 144 | Dawid Robak | 2 |
| 144 | Krzysztof Kciuk | 2 |
| 144 | Miroslaw Grudziecki | 2 |
| 144 | Piotr Maciejczak | 2 |
| 149 | Pero Ljubic | 1.25 |
| 150 | Danny Trueman | 1.25 |
| 151 | Ted Evetts | 1.25 |
| 152 | Matthias Ehlers | 1.25 |