Danny Noppert has moved up to seventh on the PDC Werner Rankings Ladder following his run to Sunday’s Dutch Darts Championship final. The former UK Open champion produced a host of impressive performances on home soil, defeating Dave Chisnall, Jermaine Wattimena, Luke Woodhouse and Gian van Veen to progress to his fifth European Tour final. […]
Danny Noppert has moved up to seventh on the PDC Werner Rankings Ladder following his run to Sunday’s Dutch Darts Championship final.
The former UK Open champion produced a host of impressive performances on home soil, defeating Dave Chisnall, Jermaine Wattimena, Luke Woodhouse and Gian van Veen to progress to his fifth European Tour final.
Noppert was denied a maiden European Tour crown by his compatriot Niels Zonneveld, although his exploits were enough to climb above Josh Rock, who was absent from this weekend’s event in Maastricht.
Zonneveld’s first senior PDC title elevates him to career-high of world number 28, as he continues to make strides at the sport’s top level.
The left-hander claimed a host of major scalps in pocketing the £35,000 top prize, having opened his campaign with hard-fought wins over Mike De Decker and Krzysztof Ratajski.
Zonneveld then dumped out Gerwyn Price to kick off Finals Day, before accounting for Wessel Nijman, Stephen Bunting and Noppert to triumph at the MECC Maastricht.
Michael van Gerwen slipped to tenth following his early exit at the hands of William O’Connor, and Scottish icon Gary Anderson has replaced his old adversary in ninth as a result.
Having secured top spot on the 2026 European Tour rankings, Ross Smith has moved up one place to world number 14, climbing above Ryan Searle.
That represents the only movement in the top 16, but it was also a significant weekend for Ireland’s O’Connor, who has broken into the world’s top 32 for the first time.
The 40-year-old swept aside Richard Veenstra before landing a hat-trick of ton-plus checkouts to deny Van Gerwen on home soil, and his reward will be a clash against world number one Luke Littler at this week’s European Championship.
Elsewhere, Jeffrey de Graaf and Karel Sedlacek have risen two spots to 41st and 44th respectively, with Czechia’s number one Sedlacek usurping Dutch legend Raymond van Barneveld in the process.
Sedlacek secured his European Championship qualification at the expense of Kim Huybrechts last weekend, and the Belgian has fallen four places to world number 55 after suffering an agonising deciding-leg defeat at the hands of Jimmy van Schie.
