Analysis: Humphries and Littler battle for number one spot as English darters dominate rankings

He has tasted success this year, defeating Jonny Clayton in a closely fought affair in the newly formatted World Masters, and defeating Luke Littler in the Premier League final to avenge his 2024 defeat against The Nuke. He has also tasted success in the World Series, defeating Nathan Aspinall to win the US Darts Masters.

Despite this, his European Tour form has dipped. Once known as one of the dominant forces on the tour, he has failed to make it past the semi-finals in the six events he has participated in this campaign. Two semis and two quarters are good, consistent results, but Humphries is used to winning these competitions and would be hoping to get back on track soon. On the Pro Tour, he has noticably only entered five events, but a semi-final and a final have put him in a comfortable position to qualify for the Players Championships finals in November.

He has had an ominous two years on top, but despite what he can win, his number one status could be in threat to the on-charging Littler.

Littler eyes number one

Since his exceptional run at the 2024 World Championships, Littler has not looked back. He backed that final up by going one better in 2025, and continued his hot streak in Mainhead, thrashing James Wade in the final to win the UK Open.

He successfully carried his form back into Europe, reclaiming his title in the Belgium Darts Open. The only other European Tour event he has played in this year came at the German Grand Prix, where he reached the semi-finals, losing out to Gian van Veen.

He has played in all the World Series events this year, only making it past the quarter-finals once in the Dutch Masters. He has also reached the semi-final just once on the floor, amassing a last-four and two quarter-finals in the eight tournaments he has played on the Pro Tour. He is comfortably in line to qualify for both European and Players Championship events.

Notably, Littler carried on his form in the major events, reaching the final of the Premier League after winning a record-breaking six nights, and topping the table. Most recently, he fought his way through a stubborn field to win the World Matchplay, again defeating Wade but in a much closer game.

As he does not defend any money until the World Championships, every ranking event Littler picks up money in will go onto his record without anything coming off. This added bonus compared to Humphries is what makes the 18-year-old the overwhelming favourite to enter the World Championships as the number one. He will be eyeing up the remaining four majors beforehand, looking to win more big titles and make more history.

Bunting on the rise

Now in the top four in the world, Bunting has cemented his place among the best. Consistent high performances and deep runs in tournaments have helped him rise up the rankings and compete for majors.

This is well represented by his TV form, reaching the quarter-finals of all but the UK Open in this year's majors, with his best result coming at the World Championships. By then, he was a shoo-in for the Premier League, but failed to take advantage as he finished last in the table with only one nightly win. On the other hand, his World Series form has been imperious. Reaching the final in four of the events so far this year, coming out victorious in two of them.

He sits second in the Pro Tour order of merit, only behind Martin Schindler. His consistent form on the floor has been one of his reasons for his rise into the top four. he has won just one floor title this year, while making a final just before that. On the European Tour, he started with a bang, reaching the quarters in Belgium before coming out on top in the International Darts Open. Since then, he has only managed to get past the second round once.

With just under 30% of his prize money to defend for the rest of the year, The Bullet will be looking up the ranking instead of down, with an opportunity to carry on his rise.

Resurging Wade back with the big boys

After back-to-back major finals, Wade has shown that he is not going anywhere. A slight dip in form a couple of years ago led many to question whether Wade is done challenging for the biggest honours, but those questions have been answered. Now up to world number five, Wade is playing some of the best darts in his career.

After a disappointing World Championships and World Masters, Wade surprised many by defeating Humphries in the quarter-finals before demolishing Rock 11-2 to reach his first major final since 2023, but he could not get close to Littler.

The Machine started his European tour campaign well, reaching the semi-finals before again losing to Littler. Since then, he has only made the final session twice from the seven events he has competed in. Wade sits 18th in the Pro Tour order of merit, having reached four quarter-finals and winning an event in Leicester recently, defeating former World Champs semi-finalist Scott Williams in the final.

His biggest triumph came at a place he adores: the Winter Gardens. He defeated Joe Cullen, Wessel Nijman, Gian van Veen and Jonny Clayton to reach his seventh Matchpkay final, but was again defeated by Littler.

From battling to stay in the top 16 to fighting to get in the top four, Wade has proved that he will be sticking around for some time.

Consistent Dobey into the top eight

Hollywood has become a firm staple at the top end of darts in recent years. A lot of that is through hard work, persistence and consistency, something Dobey has in abundance. He managed to reach a career-high of sixth in the world.

He reached his third consecutive Worlds quarter-final, falling short in the semis against Michael van Gerwen, but it was enough to enlist him back in the Premier League field. This opportunity to compete with the best was not utilised as well as it could have been for Dobey, who finished sixth with just one nightly win from three finals achieved. After the Worlds, he has not yet replicated his TV form, with short runs in the Masters, UK Open and the Matchplay. This has pushed him back down a few places to his current eighth in the world ranking.

He has carried his impressive floor form on from last year, having reached three finals and winning two of them. Apart from these three finals, he has not got past the fourth round in any other event.

Despite everything he has done in the game, Dobey remains one of the best players not to win a European Tour event. After five rounds, two exits in his first six events, he managed to reach the final session in the previous two tournaments. In the Baltic Sea Open, he succumbed to Gerwyn Price, despite averaging over 101.

Conclusion

At the top, Humphries and Littler are dominating darts, let alone English darts. The pair have swept every major so far this year, and looks poised to go to battle again as they squabble over the number one ranking. Everyone remains miles behind them, but Bunting, Wade and Dobey have proved that they can compete with them on their day. Their high ranking position cements the depth of English darts.