The new darts season is now almost at the halfway mark. A good time to take a closer look at the qualifying race for the 2025 World Darts Championship. The field of participants for the World Darts Championship consists of the top-32 of the world rankings, the top-32 of the Pro Tour Order of Merit and 32 international qualifiers.
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There is a good chance Luke Humphries will lead the seedings at the upcoming World Darts Championship. 'Cool Hand Luke' has built a huge lead over the likes of Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen after winning four majors from October through early January. Luke Littler has already moved up to the fourteenth spot in the provisional world rankings. That means that all the results that will still be dropped from the regular world rankings in the coming months have already been removed from the ranking. With a few more good results, there is a good chance that Littler will be among the top-10 seeded players at Alexandra Palace.
That is not currently the case for Peter Wright, who has virtually dropped to 12th place. He has been surpassed by the likes of Stephen Bunting and Dimitri van den Bergh.
Through the Pro Tour Order of Merit, 32 players are also invited. On this ranking, Ritchie Edhouse is in an excellent position. The Englishman already earned 39,500 pounds through the Pro Tour tournaments in the first months of 2024.
Every year there are always some famous and big names that miss the boat. Currently, Kim Huybrechts, Simon Whitlock, Steve Beaton, Mensur Suljovic, Mervyn King and Vincent van der Voort are outside the qualifying spots for the World Darts Championship.
PDC Order of Merit
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Rank - Name - Prize money (in units of £1,000)
1 Luke Humphries 1336.25
2 Michael Smith 783
3 Michael van Gerwen 624
4 Rob Cross 478.75
5 Gerwyn Price 439
6 Jonny Clayton 414
7 Damon Heta 400.5
8 Nathan Aspinall 399
9 Dave Chisnall 398.5
10 Dimitri Van den Bergh 388.5
11 Stephen Bunting 373.75
12 Peter Wright 357.5
13 Chris Dobey 349.75
14 Luke Littler 331.5
15 Danny Noppert 331
16 Gary Anderson 328
17 Josh Rock 326
18 Joe Cullen 316.25
19 Andrew Gilding 315
20 Ryan Searle 312.75
21 James Wade 295.5
22 Martin Schindler 278
23 Ross Smith 269.75
24 Brendan Dolan 266.5
25 Gabriel Clemens 266.25
26 Dirk van Duijvenbode 254.25
27 Daryl Gurney 244.75
28 Krzysztof Ratajski 232.75
29 Raymond van Barneveld 204.75
30 Gian van Veen 202
31 Ricardo Pietreczko 191.75
32 Luke Woodhouse 180.25
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33 Scott Williams 170.25
34 Jose de Sousa 164.75
35 Ryan Joyce 162.75
36 Mike De Decker 141.25
37 Kim Huybrechts 125.5
38 Ricky Evans 116.25
39 Callan Rydz 115
40 Ritchie Edhouse 114.5
41 Jermaine Wattimena 107.25
42 Jim Williams 107
43 Madars Razma 106
44 Richard Veenstra 102
45 Martin Lukeman 98
46 Cameron Menzies 96.75
47 William O'Connor 90.5
48 Kevin Doets 86.25
49 Steve Beaton 81.25
50 Keane Barry 79.75
51 Mickey Mansell 78.25
52 Simon Whitlock 77.75
53 Matt Campbell 76
54 Niels Zonneveld 74.75
55 Alan Soutar 74.75
56 Florian Hempel 72.25
57 Boris Krcmar 70.75
58 Ian White 70.5
59 Mensur Suljovic 63.25
60 Adam Gawlas 62.25
61 Mervyn King 60
62 Jamie Hughes 60
63 Lee Evans 58.25
64 Ryan Meikle 56
65 Vincent van der Voort 54
66 Dylan Slevin 52
67 Rowby-John Rodriguez 44.25
68 Karel Sedlacek 41
69 Stephen Burton 41
70 Jeffrey De Zwaan 39.5
71 Maik Kuivenhoven 38.75
72 Daniel Klose 38.75
73 Keegan Brown 36.75
74 Arron Monk 32.75
75 Graham Hall 30.25
76 Jeffrey Sparidaans 28
77 Nick Kenny 26.75
78 Robert Owen 26
79 Pascal Rupprecht 24
80 Graham Usher 23.25
81 Jurjen van der Velde 22.75
82 Adrian Lewis 22.5
83 Jeffrey de Graaf 21.75
84 Dom Taylor 19.25
85 Josh Payne 19
86 Adam Smith-Neale 18.75
87 James Hurrell 18.25
88 Thibault Tricole 17.75
89 Ronny Huybrechts 17.75
90 Berry van Peer 17.5
91 Geert Nentjes 17
92 Andy Baetens 15.75
93 Owen Roelofs 15.5
94 Steve Lennon 14
95 Danny van Trijp 14
96 Chris Landman 13.75
97 Leighton Bennett 13.5
98 Wessel Nijman 13.5
99 Christian Perez 13.5
100 Robbie Knops 13.25
PDC Pro Tour Order of Merit
Rank - Name - Prize money (in units of £1,000)
1 Ritchie Edhouse 39.5
2 Jermaine Wattimena 27
3 Ryan Joyce 26
4 Mike De Decker 22.25
5 Cameron Menzies 22
6 Richard Veenstra 21.5
7 Callan Rydz 21
8 Niels Zonneveld 19.25
9 Kevin Doets 19.25
10 Scott Williams 17
11 Madars Razma 16
12 Dom Taylor 15.25
13 Karel Sedlacek 15
14 Martin Lukeman 14.5
15 William O'Connor 14.25
16 James Hurrell 14.25
17 Berry van Peer 13.5
18 Thibault Tricole 13.25
19 Ian White 13.25
20 Wessel Nijman 12
21 Andy Baetens 11.75
22 Mickey Mansell 11.5
23 Alan Soutar 11.25
24 Jose de Sousa 11
25 Graham Hall 10.75
26 Leighton Bennett 10.5
27 Daniel Klose 10.25
28 Ricky Evans 10.25
29 Steve Lennon 10
30 Stephen Burton 9.75
31 Lukas Wenig 9.75
32 Chris Landman 9.75
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33 Jeffrey De Zwaan 9.5
34 Ryan Meikle 9.25
35 Danny Jansen 9
36 Christian Perez 9
37 Jeffrey Sparidaans 9
38 Lee Evans 8.75
39 Arron Monk 8.75
40 Franz Roetzsch 8.5
41 Mensur Suljovic 8.5
42 Jim Williams 8
43 Radek Szaganski 7.75
44 Dylan Slevin 7.75
45 Maik Kuivenhoven 7.5
46 Patrick Geeraets 7.5
47 Nick Kenny 7.5
48 Danny Lauby 7.5
49 Mario Vandenbogaerde 7
50 Kim Huybrechts 7
51 Simon Whitlock 6.75
52 Matthew Dennant 6.5
53 Jamie Hughes 6.5
54 Robert Owen 6.5
55 Jelle Klaasen 6
56 Owen Bates 5.75
57 Nathan Rafferty 5.75
58 Steve Beaton 5.5
59 Paul Krohne 5.5
60 Stefan Bellmont 5.5
61 Rowby-John Rodriguez 5.5
62 Brett Claydon 5.5
63 Haupai Puha 5
64 Robert Grundy 5
65 Adam Gawlas 5
66 Pascal Rupprecht 5
67 Florian Hempel 5
68 Mervyn King 4.75
69 Romeo Grbavac 4.75
70 Vincent van der Voort 4.5
71 Darren Beveridge 4.5
72 Adam Hunt 4.5
73 Connor Scutt 4.5
74 Oskar Lukasiak 4.5
75 Keane Barry 4
76 Ronny Huybrechts 4
77 George Killington 4
78 William Borland 4
79 Michele Turetta 4
80 Adam Smith-Neale 4
81 Michael Unterbuchner 3.75
82 Danny van Trijp 3.5
83 Rhys Griffin 3.5
84 Robbie Knops 3.5
85 Jitse Van der Wal 3.25
86 Keegan Brown 3
87 Benjamin Drue Giant 3
88 Owen Roelofs 3
89 Joshua Richardson 3
90 Niko Springer 2.5
91 Matthias Ehlers 2.5
92 Kevin Troppmann 2.5
93 Jan Dueckers 2.5
94 Marvin van Velzen 2.5
94 Moreno Blom 2.5
96 Moritz Hilger 2.5
96 Sebastian Bialecki 2.5
98 Richie Burnett 2.5
99 Darius Labanauskas 2.5
100 John Henderson 2.5
101 Graham Usher 2.5
102 Andreas Harrysson 2.5
103 Jules van Dongen 2
104 Geert Nentjes 2
104 Thomas Lovely 2
106 Boris Krcmar 2
107 Jurjen van der Velde 2
108 Matt Campbell 1.5
109 Lee Cocks 1.5
110 Dragutin Horvat 1.25
110 Max Hopp 1.25
112 Benjamin Pratnemer 1.25
112 Nico Blum 1.25
112 Nico Kurz 1.25
115 Christian Kist 1.25
115 Damian Mol 1.25
115 Jiri Brejcha 1.25
115 Teemu Harju 1.25
119 Christopher Toonders 1.25
119 Daniel Larsson 1.25
121 Christian Goedl 1.25
121 Dominik Haberl 1.25
121 Hannes Schnier 1.25
121 Zoran Lerchbacher 1.25
125 Arno Brand 1.25
125 Rene Eidams 1.25
127 Alexander Masek 1.25
127 Cor Dekker 1.25
127 Kai Gotthardt 1.25
127 Patrick Klingelhoefer 1.25
131 Oliver Mueller 1.25
131 Viktor Tingstrom 1.25
131 Vitezslav Sedlak 1.25
134 Born van Put 1.25
134 Geert De Vos 1.25
134 Jeroen Caron 1.25
134 Steven Strobbe 1.25
138 Josh Payne 1
138 Shane McGuirk 1
140 Adam Warner 1
140 Callum Goffin 1
140 Darryl Pilgrim 1
143 Aden Kirk 1
144 Tim Wolters 1
145 Wesley Plaisier 1
Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
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- And why should he listen to you?Deduce635807-11-2026
- Ultimately it is a bye for whoever draws Barney. It will be another stroppy and sulky performance once he goes behind. Barney was excellent but really must completely call it a day now.richieburnettrocks07-11-2026
- I'm disappointed he was not able to secure a spot at the Grand Slam. With Carl Sneyd taking care of Daryl Gurney, he would have had to beat Andy Boulton before facing the winner of Sneyd vs Mensur Suljović for a Grand Slam spot. Unfortunately, after beating Filip Bereza comfortably, he succumbed to Boulton, and the board would ultimately be won by the highly inconsistent Carl Sneyd. Since he could instead have been drawn against the likes of Cristo Reyes, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Stephen Bunting, I think once Gurney was out of the picture he would have been favourite to win his board, and it seems like a massive missed opportunity to put 5 grand on his ranking and seal another major TV appearance ahead of the Worlds. The highs and lows of following Raymond van Barneveld!Deduce635806-11-2026
- Probably i will receive a lot of backlash and hate for this reaction, but well, so be it. I am more than sick and tired of those lies of you Barry Hearn. How dare you defend yourself over the back of Fallon’s son! He has a disability and not an illness, so let me correct that for you! I know because I have the exact same disability. I have tried to reach out to Fallon in the past, and offered her to help her and her son, because I was struggling with the same problems, and I understood the boy. I wanted him to have finally someone who understood him. However she told me that she did not want my help, and I have respected Fallon’s choice. I have never asked Fallon for money. They don’t need money in that case. I only ever wanted the best for Fallon and Rory, but I have to be honest about the situation. Fallon should tell the true story and not be forced to tell lies. I don’t hate Fallon, and I don’t begrudge or envy a single penny that she gets, but this situation/case is just not fair. I hate the lies and the dishonesty and injustice. I don’t want Fallon to be hated because there is an unfair disadvantage created. Don’t proclaim your false lies over the back of Rory! I only stand for integrity and justice. I am precisely the one who always sticks up for Fallon. And you don't, you don't give a damn about them. You were never there for them, and now you only want to save your own position! You are just trying to talk your way out of your own bad behavior at the expense of someone with a disability. And to Fallon, I don’t know if this may ever reach you, and you read it, but I want you to know I love you and I love your son Rory very much, I am sorry how things developed and went. I hope you and Harriet are still friends. I am sorry if I were too persistent to you, or you experienced it that way, but it was never my intention. Please understand I have autism as well. As Barry Hearn would say, I am only just a human being too, and I also make mistakes and misjudge things sometimes. I promise you I did everything out of the deepest love and care for you and Rory. If I were you, I should just keep all the money, only please never be dishonest or tell lies anymore for Barry Hearn, or anyone else. I hope you have the best life, and I wish nothing more than the best for you. I have always loved the two of you. Farewell.Hiddo05-11-2026
- She is a professional. If darts is her income, she is a professional. Same as Adrian Lewis, Martin Adams. A tour card just means someone can play on the PDC tour. You could even make a case that Clayton wasn't a professional (until recently I believe) because he had employment elsewhere.BandB04-11-2026
- She's technically not a professional though as she doesn't hold a pro tour card.mr-pablo04-11-2026
- Such a shame that lakeside has been reduced to this. Fantastic venue,and previously a great tournament. Not any morerick6703-11-2026
- Seems to me that the top 16 players pick and choose whatever they want to play. Good,all the money will get spread out more. They get more money from exhibitions than tournaments so let them all withdrawrick6703-11-2026
- Play all legs and the winners split the pot. Luke gets the lot of he wins them all. If your occupation is darts player you can't enter, regardless of ability.BandB01-11-2026
- I'm quite a jaded person all things considered, but to be honest I found Beat Luke Littler to be pretty entertaining. It certainly wasn't seamless, which is to be expected given the lack of precedence, but I actually think the pacing was pretty good, the production was impressive, and there was a good sense of humour and levity to it. I think it was a very ambitious undertaking but one that, for the most part, paid off. I liked the system with the four pots and I think it added to the drama and intrigue. I enjoyed seeing the diverse range of entrants and learning about their backstories. I think the interactivity was pretty clever and well-integrated. The panel was a little incoherent at times; Lee Mack shone however, and his improvisational skills were appreciated during some more awkward interstitial moments. As far as the darts is concerned, it was a shame that the format didn't allow Littler to get into full flow. You obviously don't want him to steamroll everyone but you want to feel like you're getting the full Littler package rather than seeing him struggling to get out of first gear. I will say that his leg against Jayden Walker was very impressive, but it was mostly downhill from there. The attraction revolves around Littler being this untouchable, indomitable force, yet the format doesn't really allow him to fulfil that characterisation. As for Fallon Sherrock, she was mightily impressive and deserved the victory. It is a testament to her unshakeable character that she was able to bang in a 14-darter under such mind-bending pressure. Everything that has been said about the misleading marketing is valid, though they were clear about their eligibility criteria and were able to offload the responsibility somewhat by bringing the viewers into the decision-making process in real time. What is clear though, is that Fallon played the game according to the rules, and she should not be criticised for that, much less abused. I will admit though that it is a kick in the teeth for those true amateurs who committed time and money to the course, and I would also question those who think pub players would have no chance, given that some of Littler's winning legs were dispatched in 7 visits to the board! The great thing about darts is that it isn't so much that amateurs cannot replicate the feats of brilliance pulled off by professionals of the sport, than it is that they simply cannot replicate the consistency of their output, something that this format almost entirely removes from the equation. It should also be noted that, financially, Fallon certainly stands to benefit much less in relative terms from the paycheque than would your average pub thrower, as I'm sure she nets a fair income from the lucrative exhibition circuit alone. What I do hope is that she might use this as an opportunity to really build up a head of steam heading into the new season, as it seems long overdue that she come through Q-School and really take it to the pros on a week-in week-out basis, but whatever she chooses to do, she has certainly achieved enough already for one if not several lifetimes, so who am I to dictate terms? To conclude though, I will state once again that I found Beat Luke Littler to be a pretty enjoyable evening of entertainment. I do feel for the contestants who never actually had the chance to try their luck against the world #1, although I suppose it comes with the format, but all which inevitably raises the question: will Netflix be tempted to do it all again next year? It's hard to say. Whether it would be financially viable, I can't weigh in there. One point I have been making though, and which I touched on earlier, is that the entire concept relies on a public perception that Littler is more or less unbeatable, and that certainly hasn't been the case of late. If the execs had been trying to pitch the show in recent months while Littler has seemed vulnerable, rather than when he was mopping up almost every major title on the calendar, it would certainly be a tougher sell. We will have to see in about 6 months' time whether Littler can still reliably command perception as a near-unstoppable force in darts, and then we'll have a clearer idea about whether we should expect a second helping. Even as a one-off experiment though, and with all the controversy taken into account, I still don't think they disgraced themselves by any means, and that will probably be my lingering assessment of the event when all is said and done.Deduce635801-11-2026