World Darts Federation

World Darts Federation
AbbreviationWDF
Formation1974 (1974)
TypeDarts organisation
Websitewww.dartswdf.com

The World Darts Federation (WDF) is a sport governing body[1][2] and (along with the PDC) a tournament organiser for the game of darts. It was formed in 1974 by representatives of the original fourteen founding members.[2] Membership is open to the national organising body for darts in all nations. The WDF encourages the promotion of the sport of darts among and between those bodies, in an effort to gain international recognition for darts as a major sport. The WDF was a full member of Global Association of International Sports Federations, which was the governing body for international sports federations, until dissolution in 2023.

Main events

The WDF stages a world championship (called the WDF World Cup), as well as continental championships such as the WDF Americas Cup, the WDF Asia-Pacific Cup and the WDF Europe Cup. The country that is first in the overall leader board (overall best result in the two events, singles, pairs, teams) becomes the world champion. Winners of any of the events can also call themselves the official World Champion. Winners of continental championships can call themselves the official champion of their own areas.

After the collapse of the British Darts Organisation in September 2020, the WDF announced plans to launch the WDF World Championship and WDF World Masters.[3] Both competitions took place for the first time in 2022, starting with the 2022 WDF World Darts Championship in April.[4]

Members

80 national full members :[5]

The WDF Rankings, as defined by the World Darts Federation, are the "objective merit-based method used for determining qualification for entry and seeding in all of its tournaments for both male and female singles, pairs and team". The rankings tables are "rolling tables", and points from an event are counted until that event occurs the following year. If a particular event does not occur in the following year, points are deleted after a calendar year.[6]

Tournament levels and points allocation

A player's WDF Ranking is based on the points they have accrued from their best 10 performances over the previous 12 month rolling period.[7] The eligible tournaments include a selection of Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze level tournaments with decreasing points at each level.

Since the formation of the WDF rankings in 1974 the method used to calculate a player's ranking points has changed several times. Notes: The WDF international tournaments have six categories for both men and women (singles, pairs and teams)

Current points distribution

Points are currently awarded as follows:[8]

Tournament category W F SF QF R16 R32 R64
WDF Platinum tournaments 270 167 103 64 39 26 13
WDF Gold tournaments 180 111 68 43 26 17 9
WDF Silver tournaments 90 56 34 21 13 9
WDF Bronze tournaments 45 28 17 11 6

Current WDF World Rankings

The rankings are based on a cumulative points system similar to ATP rankings in tennis they are done on a rolling one year basis. When a tournament is played, the previous year's results are removed from the rankings. This list is used to determine seeds for some of the WDF Opens. The World Darts Federation also have a ranking system designed to provide a measure of the global activities of darts players in every WDF recognised darts event. It used to be very similar to the BDO system but was revised in January 2007 to include categories by country and by events, and the distribution of ranking points reflect the levels of prize money on offer and the numbers of entries in a tournament. Therefore, the WDF World Rankings give a better reflection on BDO player world ranking. The leading players gain points in different levels of categorised events and prize money and at the end of the season the leading players receive monetary bonus rewards from the WDF.[9]

In 2025, in response to a motion put forth by England and seconded by Scotland and Wales, the WDF voted to implement an immediate ban on transgender women from competing as women.[10] In accordance with the change in policy, the WDF renamed its "Men's" and "Boys'" events to "Open" and "Open Youth" events.[11]

WDF Open World Rankings as of 9 February 2026.[12]
Rank Change Player Points
1 Increase 3  Jenson Walker 703
2 Increase 7  Jason Brandon 674
3 Increase 15  Paul Krohne 652
4 Decrease 2  Leonard Gates 622
5 Decrease 2  Mitchell Lawrie 591
6 Increase 8  Corné Groeneveld 587
7 Increase 3  Alex Spellman 557
8 Increase 4  Raymond Smith 532
9 Decrease 3  Neil Duff 517
10 Decrease 5  James Beeton 467
11 Decrease 4  Jeff Smith 458
12 Increase 1  Matt Clark 442
13 Increase 2  Ben Robb 413
14 Increase 3  Liam Maendl-Lawrance 397
15 Increase 7  Stefan Schröder 392
16 Increase 4  Caleb Hope 364
17 Increase 2  François Schweyen 352
18 Increase 5  Jonny Tata 336
19 Increase 14  Cliff Prior 336
20 Increase 5  Ross Montgomery 330
21 Increase 9  Alex Williams 326
22 Increase 7  Vince Tipple 324
23 Decrease 2  Thomas Junghans 312
24 Increase 3  Andy Davidson 311
25 Decrease 1  Dennis Nilsson 311
26 Increase 5  Jim McEwan 310
27 Increase 1  Sybren Gijbels 302
28 Decrease 12  David Pallett 301
29 Decrease 18  David Fatum 290
30 Increase 4  Kevin Luke 289
31 Increase 5  Dalibor Šmolík 264
32 Increase 7  Marcus Maier 259
WDF Women's World Rankings as of 9 February 2026.[13]
Rank Change Player Points
1 Steady  Deta Hedman 1272
2 Steady  Lerena Rietbergen 967
3 Increase 1  Lorraine Hyde 856
4 Increase 7  Priscilla Steenbergen 856
5 Steady  Nicole Regnaud 725
6 Increase 1  Kirsi Viinikainen 695
7 Increase 2  Tracy Feiertag 680
8 Increase 5  Irina Armstrong 676
9 Decrease 6  Rhian O'Sullivan 662
10 Increase 4  Joanne Hadley 660
11 Decrease 1  Jitka Císařová 651
12 Decrease 6  Sophie McKinlay 650
13 Decrease 5  Aileen de Graaf 640
14 Decrease 2  Paula Murphy 620
15 Steady  Paige Pauling 529
16 Steady  Eve Watson 487
17 Increase 2  Emine Dursun 474
18 Increase 2  Maria Carli 450
19 Decrease 2  Aaja Jalbert 446
20 Increase 6  Paula Jacklin 440
21 Increase 10  Cali West 427
22 Decrease 4  Aletta Wajer 423
23 Decrease 2  Maud Jansson 408
24 Increase 15  Rachna David 390
25 Decrease 3  Gréta Tekauer 387
26 Decrease 3  Veronika Ihász 377
27 Decrease 3  Mikuru Suzuki 360
28 Decrease 3  Anca Zijlstra 352
29 Decrease 1  Mayumi Ouchi 309
30 Steady  Desi Mercer 302
31 Decrease 2  Taylor-Marsh Kahaki 283
32 Increase 3  Yukie Sakaguchi 275

WDF World No1 men's and women's players (1976–current)

[14]

Year Men Women
1976 Wales Alan Evans No rankings
1977 England John Lowe No rankings
1978 Wales Leighton Rees No rankings
1979 England John Lowe (2) No rankings
1980 England Eric Bristow No rankings
1981 England Eric Bristow (2) No rankings
1982 Scotland Jocky Wilson No rankings
1983 England Eric Bristow (3) No rankings
1984 England Eric Bristow (4) England Sandy Reitan
1985 England Eric Bristow (5) New Zealand Lilian Barnett
1986 England John Lowe (3) England Linda Batten
1987 England Bob Anderson Sweden Maarit Fagerholm
1988 England John Lowe (4) England Jayne Kempster
1989 England Bob Anderson (2) England Sharon Colclough
1990 England Eric Bristow (6) England Sharon Colclough (2)
1991 England Phil Taylor England Sharon Colclough (3)
1992 England Rod Harrington England Mandy Solomons
1993 Belgium Leo Laurens England Mandy Solomons (2)
1994 England Steve Beaton  Deta Hedman
1995 Wales Richie Burnett  Deta Hedman (2)
1996 England Martin Adams  Deta Hedman (3)
1997 England Martin Adams (2)  Deta Hedman (4)
1998 England Ronnie Baxter Netherlands Francis Hoenselaar
1999 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld England Trina Gulliver
2000 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld (2) England Trina Gulliver (2)
2001 England Mervyn King England Trina Gulliver (3)
2002 England John Walton England Trina Gulliver (4)
2003 England Martin Adams (3) England Trina Gulliver (5)
2004 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld (3) England Trina Gulliver (6)
2005 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld (4) England Trina Gulliver (7)
2006 Netherlands Jelle Klaasen England Trina Gulliver (8)
2007 Scotland Gary Anderson England Trina Gulliver (9)
2008 England Scott Waites Netherlands Francis Hoenselaar (2)
2009 England Tony O'Shea England Trina Gulliver (10)
2010 England Martin Adams (4)  Deta Hedman (5)
2011 England Scott Waites (2)  Deta Hedman (6)
2012 England Stephen Bunting  Deta Hedman (7)
2013 England James Wilson  Deta Hedman (8)
2014 England Alan Norris  Deta Hedman (9)
2015  Darius Labanauskas  Deta Hedman (10)
2016  Darius Labanauskas (2)  Deta Hedman (11)
2017  Scott Mitchell  Aileen de Graaf
2018  Jim Williams  Deta Hedman (12)
2019  Nick Kenny Netherlands Aileen de Graaf (2)
2020  Wayne Warren  Deta Hedman (13)
2021  Brian Raman  Deta Hedman (14)
2022  Jelle Klaasen (2)  Beau Greaves
2023  Andy Baetens  Beau Greaves (2)
2024  Jimmy van Schie  Beau Greaves (3)
2025  Jimmy van Schie (2)  Deta Hedman (15)

The rankings show Deta Hedman and Trina Gulliver as consistently being the leading women's player's, having been number one on a record ten or more occasions each. No male player has held the number one position as many years Gulliver and Hedman, although Eric Bristow has held the top position for a record six times. The rankings for the men has become even more complex since the inception of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) formerly the World Darts Council (WDC). The leading ranked players in 1993/94 split from the BDO and they have their own world ranking system known as the Order of Merit. The players from the PDC are not included in the rankings because the BDO, the former British governing body of amateur darts, was the one recognised by the WDF.

WDF tournaments

Main article: List of WDF tournaments

See also

References

  1. ^ McNeely, Scott (10 October 2012). Ultimate Book of Sports: The Essential Collection of Rules, Stats, and Trivia for Over 250 Sports. Chronicle Books, September 14, 2012. p. 343. ISBN 9781452110592. Retrieved 4 January 2016 – via Internet Archive.
  2. ^ a b Nauright, John; Parrish, Charles (2012). Sports Around the World: History, Culture, and Practice. ABC-CLIO. p. 70. ISBN 9781598843002. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  3. ^ "Development of World Rankings Criteria For 2021 – WDF". World Darts Federation. 15 September 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  4. ^ "Lakeside WDF World Championships 2022 - Rescheduled". World Darts Federation. 15 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Member Countries". World Darts Federation.
  6. ^ "World Ranking Systems Criteria Seniors 38th ed" (PDF). World Darts Federation. 7.01 Points Allocation Table. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  7. ^ "WDF Rules". WDF. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  8. ^ "WDF Rules". WDF. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  9. ^ "WDF Ranking Systems: 2015 Monetary Awards". WDF. 13 December 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  10. ^ Russell, John (30 July 2025). "Trans darts player vows not to let new anti-trans ban ruin her love of the sport". LGBTQ Nation. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  11. ^ "WDF eligibility criteria announcement". World Darts Federation. 28 July 2025. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
  12. ^ "WDF Open Rankings Table". WDF. 9 February 2026. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  13. ^ "WDF Women's Rankings Table". WDF. 9 February 2026. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  14. ^ WDF Roll of Honour (previous world number ones)

Sources

  • Kramer, Anne (2013). The Ultimate Book of Darts A Complete Guide to Games, Gear, Terms, and Rules. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. ISBN 9781626365261.
  • McNeely, Scott (2012). The ultimate book of sports. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. ISBN 9781452121871.
  • editors, John Nauright, Charles Parrish (2012). Sports around the world : history, culture, and practice. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781598843002. {{cite book}}: |last1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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