 | |
| Abbreviation | WDF |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1974; 51 years ago (1974) |
| Type | Darts organisation |
| Website | www |
TheWorld Darts Federation (WDF) is asport governing body[1][2] and (along with thePDC) a tournament organiser for the game ofdarts. 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 ofGlobal Association of International Sports Federations, which was the governing body for international sports federations, until dissolution in 2023.
The WDF stages a world championship (called theWDF World Cup), as well as continental championships such as theWDF Americas Cup, theWDF Asia-Pacific Cup and theWDF 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 theBritish Darts Organisation in September 2020, the WDF announced plans to launch the WDF World Championship andWDF World Masters.[3] Both competitions took place for the first time in 2022, starting with the2022 WDF World Darts Championship in April.[4]
76 national full members plus 3 interim nembers (Mauritania, Yemen, Papua New Guinea) :[5]
Australia
Austria
Bahamas
Bahrain
Belgium
Brunei
Bulgaria
Canada
Catalonia
Chinese Taipei
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Egypt
England
Estonia
Ethiopia
Faroe Islands
Finland
France
Germany
Gibraltar
Greece
Guernsey
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Iran
Isle of Man
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jersey
Kenya
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macau
Malaysia
Malta
Monaco
Mongolia
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Northern Ireland
Norway
Pakistan
Palestine
Poland
Republic of Ireland
Romania
Russia
Scotland
Serbia
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Thailand
Trinidad & Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turks & Caicos
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States
WalesTheWDF 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]
World ParaDarts is also an associate member of the WDF.
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)
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 |
The rankings are based on a cumulative points system similar toATP 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 motionput forth by England and seconded by Scotland and Wales, the WDF voted to implement an immediate ban ontransgender 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]
| Rank | Change | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Jimmy van Schie | 850 |
| 2 | | Leonard Gates | 579 |
| 3 |  12 | Jason Brandon | 541 |
| 4 |  1 | Alex Spellman | 540 |
| 5 | 2 | Neil Duff | 531 |
| 6 | 1 | James Beeton | 510 |
| 7 | 26 | Jeff Smith | 484 |
| 8 | 4 | Benjamin Pratnemer | 479 |
| 9 | 3 | David Fatum | 450 |
| 10 | 2 | Matt Clark | 429 |
| 11 | 1 | Corné Groeneveld | 428 |
| 12 | 31 | Stefan Schröder | 426 |
| 13 | 4 | François Schweyen | 414 |
| 14 | 4 | Raymond Smith | 403 |
| 15 | 5 | David Pallett | 400 |
| 16 | 3 | Liam Maendl-Lawrance | 397 |
| 17 | 12 | Paul Krohne | 361 |
| 18 | 4 | Brian Raman | 352 |
| 19 | 8 | Thomas Junghans | 350 |
| 20 | 4 | Jonny Tata | 347 |
| 21 | 4 | Ben Robb | 347 |
| 22 | 4 | Marko Kantele | 342 |
| 23 | 2 | Dennis Nilsson | 332 |
| 24 | 1 | Mitchell Lawrie | 326 |
| 25 | 1 | Caleb Hope | 319 |
| 26 | 4 | Vince Tipple | 310 |
| 27 | 3 | Ryan Hogarth | 305 |
| 28 | 4 | Karl Schaefer | 298 |
| 29 | 4 | Jim McEwan | 297 |
| 30 | 8 | Jenson Walker | 295 |
| 31 | 4 | Alex Williams | 294 |
| 32 | 4 | Kevin Luke | 293 |
| Rank | Change | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Lorraine Hyde | 1002 |
| 2 | 1 | Deta Hedman | 994 |
| 3 | 1 | Lerena Rietbergen | 988 |
| 4 | 1 | Nicole Regnaud | 829 |
| 5 | 4 | Rhian O'Sullivan | 823 |
| 6 | 1 | Sophie McKinlay | 788 |
| 7 | 3 | Tracy Feiertag | 731 |
| 8 | | Aileen de Graaf | 690 |
| 9 | 2 | Kirsi Viinikainen | 684 |
| 10 | | Jitka Císařová | 681 |
| 11 | 1 | Joanne Hadley | 600 |
| 12 | 1 | Paula Murphy | 600 |
| 13 | 1 | Irina Armstrong | 595 |
| 14 | 1 | Priscilla Steenbergen | 551 |
| 15 | | Aletta Wajer | 487 |
| 16 | | Paige Pauling | 470 |
| 17 | 1 | Eve Watson | 466 |
| 18 | 1 | Aaja Jalbert | 428 |
| 19 | 4 | Emine Dursun | 423 |
| 20 | | Maud Jansson | 395 |
| 21 | 2 | Gréta Tekauer | 387 |
| 22 | 1 | Veronika Ihász | 377 |
| 23 | 1 | Beau Greaves | 373 |
| 24 | 2 | Maria Carli | 350 |
| 25 | 9 | Mayumi Ouchi | 344 |
| 26 | 1 | Paula Jacklin | 339 |
| 27 | 2 | Mikuru Suzuki | 321 |
| 28 | | Desi Mercer | 311 |
| 29 | 1 | Taylor-Marsh Kahaki | 304 |
| 30 | 6 | Lisa Zollikofer | 296 |
| 31 | 6 | Anca Zijlstra | 288 |
| 32 | | Janine Cassar | 274 |
| Year | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Alan Evans | No rankings |
| 1977 | John Lowe | No rankings |
| 1978 | Leighton Rees | No rankings |
| 1979 | John Lowe(2) | No rankings |
| 1980 | Eric Bristow | No rankings |
| 1981 | Eric Bristow(2) | No rankings |
| 1982 | Jocky Wilson | No rankings |
| 1983 | Eric Bristow(3) | No rankings |
| 1984 | Eric Bristow(4) | Sandy Reitan |
| 1985 | Eric Bristow(5) | Lilian Barnett |
| 1986 | John Lowe(3) | Linda Batten |
| 1987 | Bob Anderson | Maarit Fagerholm |
| 1988 | John Lowe(4) | Jayne Kempster |
| 1989 | Bob Anderson(2) | Sharon Colclough |
| 1990 | Eric Bristow(6) | Sharon Colclough(2) |
| 1991 | Phil Taylor | Sharon Colclough(3) |
| 1992 | Rod Harrington | Mandy Solomons |
| 1993 | Leo Laurens | Mandy Solomons(2) |
| 1994 | Steve Beaton | Deta Hedman |
| 1995 | Richie Burnett | Deta Hedman(2) |
| 1996 | Martin Adams | Deta Hedman(3) |
| 1997 | Martin Adams(2) | Deta Hedman(4) |
| 1998 | Ronnie Baxter | Francis Hoenselaar |
| 1999 | Raymond van Barneveld | Trina Gulliver |
| 2000 | Raymond van Barneveld(2) | Trina Gulliver(2) |
| 2001 | Mervyn King | Trina Gulliver(3) |
| 2002 | John Walton | Trina Gulliver(4) |
| 2003 | Martin Adams(3) | Trina Gulliver(5) |
| 2004 | Raymond van Barneveld(3) | Trina Gulliver(6) |
| 2005 | Raymond van Barneveld(4) | Trina Gulliver(7) |
| 2006 | Jelle Klaasen | Trina Gulliver(8) |
| 2007 | Gary Anderson | Trina Gulliver(9) |
| 2008 | Scott Waites | Francis Hoenselaar(2) |
| 2009 | Tony O'Shea | Trina Gulliver(10) |
| 2010 | Martin Adams(4) | Deta Hedman(5) |
| 2011 | Scott Waites(2) | Deta Hedman(6) |
| 2012 | Stephen Bunting | Deta Hedman(7) |
| 2013 | James Wilson | Deta Hedman(8) |
| 2014 | 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 | 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) |
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, althoughEric 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 theProfessional Darts Corporation (PDC) formerly the World Darts Council (WDC). The leading ranked players in 1993/94split from the BDO and they have their own world ranking system known as theOrder 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.
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