Ten players to watch in the second half of the 2026 season: From Beau Greaves and Gerwyn Price, to resurgent Cross & Huybrechts

The opening months of the darts season have largely exposed the balance of power, but for many players the real work is yet to begin. In the second half of 2026, most of the major televised tournaments take place, and that’s precisely where careers and world ranking positions can take a completely different turn in a short time.

We’re largely leaving the absolute elite out of this overview. Behind them stands a large group ready to spring surprises in the autumn. Some have already proven on the Pro Tour that they consistently belong among the best, others are staging a resurgence, or have made an instant impression in their first year with a Tour Card. According to Dartsnews.com, these are ten players to keep a very close eye on during the second half of the season.

If there’s one player who, based on his results at ranking events, looks ready for a major televised breakthrough, it’s Wessel Nijman. No one won more ranking titles than the Dutchman in the first seven months of 2026.

Nijman collected no fewer than six Players Championship titles and also claimed two Euro Tour events. That impressive haul has moved him into second place on the Year-to-Date Order of Merit.

It’s also moving fast on the regular PDC Order of Merit. Nijman has already climbed to 13th and could even make his debut in the world’s top ten this autumn.

The next step has to come at the majors. Nijman is still waiting for his big breakthrough at a major televised event, but if he can reproduce his floor level there, a strong result seems only a matter of time. Moreover, he has relatively little prize money to defend at the upcoming televised events, leaving plenty of room to keep rising.

Ross Smith now knows what it feels like to win a major out of nowhere. In 2022, he stunned the field by lifting the European Championship title and subsequently spent a spell inside the world’s top sixteen.

After the prize money from that title dropped off the rankings, Smith slipped back. ‘Smudger’ has now reclaimed his place among the top sixteen, however. His results in 2026 underline that resurgence. Smith won two Players Championship events and captured a Euro Tour title for the first time in his career. As a result, he sits a fine fourth on the Year-to-Date Order of Merit.

His performances also earned him an invite to the World Series events Down Under in August. In the autumn, Smith will feature at all the big televised tournaments. Because he has relatively little prize money to defend at the majors, he can make significant strides again there.

Kevin Doets makes progress almost every year, and in 2026 the Dutchman has taken big steps again. His name pops up ever more often in the business end on the Pro Tour in particular.

Doets won a Players Championship event this season and also reached a Euro Tour final. He currently sits eighth on the Year-to-Date Order of Merit. He has already shown on television several times that he can match strong opponents. The World Matchplay didn’t deliver the result: despite a 105 average, he exited in the first round.

A quarterfinal at a PDC major is still missing from his résumé. Given his current level, however, he seems likely to get multiple chances to change that in the autumn. Doets is currently 30th in the world rankings, but a push towards the top 24 certainly looks possible later this year.

For Rob Cross, calm seems to be gradually returning. The former world champion endured a difficult 2025, with issues involving the UK tax authorities, and his marriage also ended earlier in 2026. His results have clearly improved since.

That’s been most evident on the recent Euro Tours. Cross reached two semifinals and a final, and added a Players Championship title to boot. A Cross in form remains a particularly dangerous opponent for any top player. Even so, ‘Voltage’ currently sits only 23rd on the PDC Order of Merit. His 14th place on the Year-to-Date Order of Merit, however, tells a different story about his 2026 performances.

If Cross can maintain this trajectory in the autumn, a return to the world’s top sixteen could come into view quickly.

One of the most striking stories of 2026 may well be the return of Cristo Reyes. After six years away, the Spaniard regained a PDC Tour Card and has shown little sign that he spent years outside the professional circuit.

Reyes regularly qualifies for Euro Tour events and has climbed to 73rd on the world rankings. That puts him firmly on course to be back among the world’s top 64 after his first season.

A World Grand Prix berth is still on the table, which would be a remarkable feat in the first year of his new Tour Card spell. Reyes will in any case appear at the European Championship and the Players Championship Finals. Strong showings at the majors could even propel him towards the world’s top fifty.

That Beau Greaves can play top darts against the men has long been clear. This season, the three-time women’s world champion holds a PDC Tour Card for the first time, and she has needed little time among the full-time Tour Card holders to prove her level.

Greaves has already won a Players Championship event and sits seventh on the Players Championship Order of Merit. She has also qualified for several upcoming Euro Tour events.

In the autumn, Greaves will get multiple chances to take the next step at the majors. She will in any case compete at the Grand Slam of Darts, the Players Championship Finals, and the World Darts Championship.

She has never reached the second round at a PDC major. In recent years, she came close a few times. With the experience she has now gained on the Pro Tour, three new opportunities await this autumn to finally hit that milestone.

When Cameron Menzies is on stage, something almost always happens. The Scot made negative headlines at the last World Championship after venting his frustration on a small table on stage, but he made noise on the oche at the World Matchplay.

Menzies knocked out Luke Humphries in the first round. His tournament then ended on a sour note. In his second-round tie against Ross Smith, he fell ill while leading 2-1 and had to retire. Even so, Menzies is putting together another strong season. He reached a Euro Tour semi-final and won a Players Championship event.

With a world ranking of 26th and 27th on the Year-to-Date Order of Merit, his standings are broadly aligned. His 2026 level, however, gives ample reason to factor him in for the majors this autumn.

Gerwyn Price is frankly too established to be a classic “One to Watch.” Yet the Welshman merits inclusion here precisely because he hasn’t posted the results in recent years that you would expect from a former world champion. His last individual ranking major dates back to 2021. In 2026, however, there are clear signs that “The Iceman” is edging back towards a big title.

After a disappointing World Championship, Price reached the semi-finals at both the World Masters and the UK Open. He went one better at the World Matchplay by making the final. It was his first final at a ranking major since October 2023.

Price hasn’t played a huge number of tournaments in 2026, but when he does turn up, the results are generally strong. The ingredients seem to be there to finally win another individual major. The only catch is he will likely have to get past the prolific Luke Littler somewhere along the way.

At the start of the season, Kim Huybrechts’ situation looked far less promising. The Belgian seemed at serious risk of losing his Tour Card, but after teaming up with Belgian darts legend Erik Clarys, his fortunes have turned.

On form, Huybrechts is currently the best Belgian darter. He still sits only 52nd on the official world rankings, but his 36th place on the Year-to-Date Order of Merit shows just how much better his results are this season.

He has a strong chance of qualifying for the European Championship. In addition, he will in any case play the Players Championship Finals and the World Darts Championship. Even the World Grand Prix is not completely out of sight, though he still needs to make up a fair deficit.

The main target likely lies further ahead. With a strong autumn, Huybrechts can put himself in an excellent position to launch another assault on the world’s top 32 in 2027.

Luke Woodhouse is one of those players who may draw less attention than some rivals, yet improves almost every season. In 2026, the Englishman has taken another important step.

For a long time, Woodhouse carried the unenviable tag of highest-ranked player on the world list without a PDC title. He has since put that firmly to rest. This season he has won both a Players Championship event and a Euro Tour title.

Woodhouse started the year as world number 21 and has now climbed to 18th. Even more striking is his position on the Year-to-Date Order of Merit, where he sits ninth.

This autumn, Woodhouse will feature at all the major TV tournaments. A true breakthrough at the majors has so far eluded him, with his semi-final at the 2024 European Championship the notable exception.

That is precisely where his next challenge lies. If Woodhouse can translate his strong Pro Tour results to the big TV stages, he could make a serious push for the world’s top sixteen in the final months of 2026.

The TV tournaments come thick and fast in the autumn. The next major is the World Series Finals at AFAS Live in Amsterdam from 17/09/2026 to 20/09/2026. Not the most prestigious event, and it doesn’t even count towards the rankings, but it is a chance to build confidence ahead of the other majors.

The first truly important appointment is the World Grand Prix in Leicester. The famous double-in, double-out tournament is scheduled for 28/09/2026 to 04/10/2026. Later that month comes the European Championship in Dortmund from 22/10/2026 to 25/10/2026.

Another iconic tournament is the Grand Slam of Darts, which has had a makeover this year. This event is set for 14/11/2026 to 22/11/2026. With 48 players, the field is larger than ever. They will be split into sixteen groups of three, where the initial battle is for a place in the knockouts. The race for the Eric Bristow Trophy then continues in a straight-elimination bracket.

The final tournament before the World Darts Championship is traditionally the Players Championship Finals in Minehead. The top 64 players of the Players Championship season will compete here from 27/11/2026 to 29/11/2026. After that, the final preparations for the World Darts Championship begin. The battle for the world title takes place from 11/12/2026 to 03/01/2027 at Alexandra Palace in London.