The World Grand Prix is only halfway through, but it has already caused major ripples in the PDC Order of Merit. After the first two rounds, eight players remain in Leicester and the live world rankings show several striking shifts.
For Luke Littler, the impact of his surprise first-round exit to Luke Woodhouse is limited. The Englishman remains the clear world number one, sitting on £3.1 million, more than £2 million clear of his nearest chasers. Right behind him, Gian van Veen has climbed to second on the live list, edging past Luke Humphries for now. Humphries is defending the prize money from his 2024 runner-up spot at this World Grand Prix and must win the title to keep second place. Van Veen can strengthen his position further when he faces James Wade in the quarter-finals.
There is no movement yet from places four to six, with Gerwyn Price, Jonny Clayton and Wade holding those spots in that order. All three are still active in Leicester, so plenty can still change. Clayton and Wade can still overhaul Price, but only by winning the World Grand Prix. That will be a tough ask for Clayton regardless, as he meets Price in Friday night's quarter-finals. Danny Noppert has gained one place, moving up to seventh ahead of Josh Rock by reaching the second round.
The World Grand Prix proved disappointing again for Michael van Gerwen. The three-time world champion went out in the first round and could not take advantage of having no prize money to defend in Leicester. Van Gerwen does remain world number nine for now, though he initially risked dropping out of the top ten before many of his pursuers were eliminated. Only Nathan Aspinall can still pass Van Gerwen during this World Grand Prix. Aspinall started as world number fifteen and has moved up live to fourteenth. To overtake Van Gerwen, Aspinall must reach the final. Should he win the title, Aspinall would rise to either sixth or seventh, depending on Wade's further results.
Ryan Joyce and Niels Zonneveld are the two lowest-ranked players still in the tournament, and both have already made significant gains. Joyce opened with a win over Van Gerwen, then knocked out Noppert. That does not yet fully defend his 2024 run to the semi-finals, but 'Relentless' has climbed one live spot to 25th. If he wins his quarter-final against Aspinall, Joyce moves further up to 22nd. The swing is even bigger for Zonneveld, who is enjoying an excellent World Grand Prix debut. After a 2-1 win over Josh Rock, he beat Gary Anderson 3-1 in the last 16. Zonneveld started in 35th but has climbed live to 29th, guaranteeing his first ever top-32 world ranking regardless of what follows. Humphries awaits in the quarter-finals.
The World Grand Prix affects not only those competing in Leicester. Absentees also see the two-year-old sums drop off their ranking. Martin Schindler failed to qualify and slips four places, from nineteenth to 23rd. Raymond van Barneveld also drops four spots and sits 44th on the live list. Brendan Dolan suffers the same slide, from 49th to 53rd. For Mike De Decker the damage is far greater. The Belgian produced a huge shock by winning the World Grand Prix in 2024. The £120,000 he earned then now drops off in one go because he failed to qualify for the 2026 edition. De Decker tumbles from 24th to 33rd and falls out of the top 32.
The biggest loser for now, however, is Dimitri Van den Bergh. The Belgian drops no fewer than thirteen places and sits only 59th in the live world rankings. That also pushes Van den Bergh's Tour Card status firmly into focus. If he is outside the top 64 of the PDC Order of Merit after the World Darts Championship, he will lose his Tour Card.
