Van Gerwen is the number one seed at the World Championship, but Wright currently leads the Post World Championship Order of Merit. The world ranking is based on performances over 24 months, which means Van Gerwen has to defend his world title from two years ago. He earned £500,000 in prize money with his third world title.
Wright was beaten in the second round two years ago, which is an advantage now. The same also applies to number three Price, who also earned only £15.000 during the 2019 edition.
If Wright, Van Gerwen or Price becomes World Champion, this player is also the world number one after the World Championship. In another case, the advantage lies with Wright.
Van Gerwen needs to get further than the Scotsman to stay ahead of him on the PDC Order of Merit. If both lose in the same round, Wright overtakes his Dutch rival on the world ranking. Price has a very small chance to become world number one without winning the world title. When Wright and Van Gerwen both lose their first match, Price just needs a place in the final.
I stumbled into the world of darts quite by accident back in 2013. For a Journalism School assignment, I had to produce a live sports report and as it happened, the European Tour event in Veldhoven was the only available option. That weekend, I caught the darts bug. The post-match interviews especially appealed to me, as darts players tend to be much more open and approachable than what you usually see with footballers on television.
After a few detours, I joined Dartsnieuws.com in 2017 as editor-in-chief. I don’t have much competitive experience myself, although I once entered a PDC Development Tour weekend just to experience what it’s like from a player’s perspective. I even managed to win a leg against a Tour Card holder and, quite by accident, earned £50 in prize money.
In 2022, I was also involved in the founding of the TOTO Dart Kings, a commercial darts team, where I worked as media manager for three years. Unfortunately, due to new legislation in the Netherlands, that project came to an end in 2025.
Through my work in darts, I’ve been fortunate to travel to some incredible events, from Premier League nights at Ahoy Rotterdam, to several World Championships, and even the US Darts Masters at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Beyond darts, I’m a passionate sports fan in general. You can always wake me up for a game of tennis or padel, and I love following football, tennis, padel, cycling, Formula 1, and ice skating.
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