PDC Stats Analyst Christopher Kempf assesses the sport’s top ten stars – based on their last 200 legs played – ahead of the BetVictor World Cup on Darts in Frankfurt which starts on Thursday June 11. #1 Averages – Luke Humphries#1 OChE – Luke Humphries#1 Doubles – Wessel Nijman#1 171-180 – Chris Dobey#1 99, 101+ Checkout […]
PDC Stats Analyst Christopher Kempf assesses the sport’s top ten stars – based on their last 200 legs played – ahead of the BetVictor World Cup on Darts in Frankfurt which starts on Thursday June 11.
#1 Averages – Luke Humphries
#1 OChE – Luke Humphries
#1 Doubles – Wessel Nijman
#1 171-180 – Chris Dobey
#1 99, 101+ Checkout – Callan Rydz
Luke Littler is now a two-time Premier League champion, but for the first time this year, he does not lead the rankings in any statistical category of the form guide.
The world number one managed to emerge victorious at the wire of the Premier League final, a 111.67 average from Littler caused Humphries to miss out on claiming only his second televised title since October of last year.
Although Humphries fell just short of World Series glory in Copenhagen in the final, the world number two emerged from the weekend’s action as the top-ranked form player in darts by an enormous margin.
Even though Humphries only has thrown 58 maximums in his last 200 legs compared to 83 from Littler, the 31-year-old is operating at maximum efficiency, landing a prodigious amount of his last-dart doubles and winning a season-best five out of every eight legs in 15 darts or fewer.
Despite falling short in the last two tournament-deciding legs, Humphries can be consoled by the fact that his lead of five points in OChE and three points in averages place him many lengths ahead of his rivals.
In winning the 2026 Nordic Darts Masters, Michael van Gerwen claimed his 18th title on the World Series circuit, despite a slow start in his opening two matches.
Averages of 89 and 86 against Swedish contenders Oskar Lukasiak and Viktor Tingstrom this past weekend did not inspire confidence in his form, but the three-time World Champion’s form did move in a positive direction in May.
His 200-leg average increased from 95.6 to 97.4, as he recaptured some of the scoring magic which made him so unbeatable in the days before the ascent of the two Lukes.
After reaching his OChE rating nadir in April, Van Gerwen has recovered by seven points, so that he can now expect to win 59% of legs against ProTour rivals on current form.
Nevertheless, the seven-time Premier League champion is still not firing on all its cylinders – he remains in the bottom half of Tour Card Holders with his 36% doubles accuracy, as his finishing inconsistency is the biggest obstacle to more consistent challenges for big TV titles.
Jeffrey de Graaf, Ross Smith and Luke Woodhouse have taken the initiative to win titles and take their careers to the next level across the ProTour circuit, capitalising on some pull-outs from a few of the sport’s best players.
De Graaf, on the back of an increase of 7.7 points in his OChE rating, was one of the most improved players in May.
The Swedish number one claimed his second PDC title after defeating some of the current hottest properties in darts including Nijman, Jonny Clayton and Woodhouse, while only three players in the PDC currently win more legs in 12 darts or fewer than he does.
Smith and Woodhouse are notable not necessarily for world-topping averages, but for the efficiency with which their leg conversion.
Smith and Woodhouse are ranked 9th and 11th respectively in OChE, even though their averages put them outside the top 16 players on form: this indicates that when either player averages 95, they are more likely to win legs than Gary Anderson or Stephen Bunting, for example, even when these latter players have slightly higher averages.
Both Smith and Woodhouse, moreover, have doubles percentages below 38%; even a small improvement on this metric could see them seriously contend for World Matchplay glory next month.