Left arrow

Magnificent Michael Smith secures fairy-tale first World Championship title

Right arrow

Michael Smith scoops hat-trick in 2022 PDC Annual Awards

PDC Order of Merit following the 2022/23 World Darts Championship

Jamie Shaw in World Darts Championship 05 Jan 2023
Michael Smith (Photo by Taylor Lanning/PDC)

Michael Smith has become the new PDC world number one after claiming World Championship glory for the first time.

Smith realised his darting dream by lifting the Sid Waddell Trophy at Alexandra Palace on Tuesday courtesy of a 7-4 victory over Michael van Gerwen in the final.

The St Helens star produced an historic nine-darter en route to the title, having seen Van Gerwen miss double 12 for a nine-darter of his own in the same leg.

The triumph came just months after Bully Boy had landed his first major title at the Grand Slam, ending a run of eight consecutive defeats in televised finals.

Smith scooped £500,000 in prize money to storm into the world number one spot, leapfrogging Van Gerwen, Peter Wright and Gerwyn Price.

In doing so, he becomes the 12th different world number one in PDC history and the first Englishman to top the rankings since Phil Taylor in 2014.

Price’s shock Quarter-Final exit at the hands of Gabriel Clemens sees him drop to fourth, having won the title two years ago, while last year’s champion Wright trails Smith by around £100,000 in second spot.

A third defeat in a World Championship final for Van Gerwen sees him end the season in third position, despite picking up the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and Players Championship Finals titles.

Meanwhile, Dimitri Van den Bergh’s superb run to the Semi-Finals sees him climb four places to 11th, while Jose de Sousa rises three places to 14th after reaching the Last 16.

Clemens’ ground-breaking run to the Semi-Finals, becoming the first German in PDC history to do so, sees him storm six places to 19th and in contention for a Premier League spot this year.

James Wade’s shock Second Round exit means he drops two places to tenth, while Dave Chisnall tumbles six places to 18th, having made the Semi-Finals two years ago.

Gary Anderson, World Championship runner-up in 2021, plummets eleven places to 22nd – his lowest end of season ranking since 2010 – following a Third Round defeat to Chris Dobey.

World Cup winner Damon Heta ends the season inside the world’s top 16 for the first time, with European Champion Ross Smith rising two places to 17th and just £7,000 adrift of the Aussie.

Stephen Bunting falls three places to 24th despite his impressive run to the Quarter-Finals, having reached the semis two years ago, but will occupy the 24th and final spot in The Masters later this month.

Daryl Gurney and Vincent van der Voort drop two places to 26th and 30th respectively, while Raymond van Barneveld ends the season in 29th after notably reaching the Semi-Finals of the Grand Slam.

Alan Soutar’s run to the Last 16 for the second successive year at Ally Pally sees him end the campaign inside the world’s top 32 for the first time.

Mensur Suljovic drops out of the top 32 despite a terrific showing against MVG in the Third Round, while 2010 runner-up Simon Whitlock also drops three places to 38th.

Josh Rock’s astonishing debut season as a Tour Card holder ends with the 21-year-old ranked world number 36, having reached the Last 16 at Ally Pally, as well as winning a ProTour event and making the Last 16 of the Grand Slam.

Andrew Gilding climbs five places to 41st, with Martijn Kleermaker up four places to 40th and Ryan Meikle and Ritchie Edhouse also up three places apiece.

Ian White’s failure to qualify for the World Championship means he drops a further five places to 43rd, with Ryan Joyce down four places to 44th and Jermaine Wattimena sinking eight places to 47th.

Ricky Evans, who defeated Fallon Sherrock before losing out to Joe Cullen, drops six places to 48th, while German ace Florian Hempel surges ten places to 50th.

Challenge Tour star Scott Williams, who picked up a Players Championship title in 2022 despite not holding a Tour Card, ends the year in 57th after losing out to Rob Cross in a high quality Second Round contest.

Devon Petersen, who failed to secure a spot in the sport’s show-piece, tumbles 15 places to 58th and will be battling to retain his Tour Card this coming season.

Jim Williams enjoyed a fine run to the Last 32 and subsequently climbs 18 places to 59th, followed by fellow Welsh star Lewy Williams – who rises ten places to 60th.

Czech youngster Adam Gawlas is up 11 places to 62nd, with Ron Meulenkamp and Keegan dropping out of the Tour Card places.

LATEST DARTS FREE BET OFFERS (18+ | T&Cs apply | Gamble Aware)

PDC Order of Merit following the 2022/23 World Darts Championship

PositionNamePrize Money
1Michael Smith£1,243,500
2Peter Wright£1,144,500
3Michael van Gerwen£1,050,750
4Gerwyn Price£726,750
5Luke Humphries£526,000
6Rob Cross£512,000
7Jonny Clayton£482,750
8Danny Noppert£449,750
9Nathan Aspinall£441,500
10James Wade£440,000
11Dimitri Van den Bergh£411,750
12Joe Cullen£367,750
13Dirk van Duijvenbode£350,250
14Jose de Sousa£340,000
15Ryan Searle£327,500
16Damon Heta£311,250
17Ross Smith£304,750
18Dave Chisnall£294,000
19Gabriel Clemens£286,250
20Krzysztof Ratajski£281,750
21Chris Dobey£274,000
22Gary Anderson£235,750
23Callan Rydz£233,500
24Stephen Bunting£232,750
25Brendan Dolan£219,750
26Daryl Gurney£195,250
27Martin Schindler£189,250
28Mervyn King£174,250
29Raymond van Barneveld£165,750
30Vincent van der Voort£165,750
31Kim Huybrechts£163,750
32Alan Soutar£161,500
33Mensur Suljovic£157,500
34Adrian Lewis£139,750
35Madars Razma£138,500
36Josh Rock£129,000
37William O’Connor£124,000
38Simon Whitlock£123,500
39Martin Lukeman£122,500
40Martijn Kleermaker£119,000
41Andrew Gilding£113,500
42Keane Barry£110,500
43Ian White£106,250
44Ryan Joyce£104,250
45Ryan Meikle£97,000
46Ritchie Edhouse£96,750
47Jermaine Wattimena£96,250
48Ricky Evans£95,000
49Luke Woodhouse£92,500
50Florian Hempel£86,000
51Rowby-John Rodriguez£82,750
52Darius Labanauskas£82,250
53Mike De Decker£80,500
54Boris Krcmar£80,500
55Steve Beaton£80,000
56Jamie Hughes£75,000
57Scott Williams£73,000
58Devon Petersen£69,250
59Jim Williams£68,250
60Lewy Williams£67,000
61Steve Lennon£65,000
62Adam Gawlas£64,250
63Joe Murnan£57,000
64Jeff Smith£56,750
65Ron Meulenkamp£56,750
66Keegan Brown£56,250
67Maik Kuivenhoven£54,250
68Karel Sedlacek£51,500
69Niels Zonneveld£51,000
70Scott Mitchell£50,000
71William Borland£49,500
72Geert Nentjes£48,500
73Danny Jansen£48,250
74Cameron Menzies£47,750
75Matt Campbell£47,750
76Nathan Rafferty£45,750
77Mickey Mansell£44,250
78Jason Lowe£44,250
79Adam Hunt£42,500
80Glen Durrant£41,500
81Jason Heaver£41,000
82Andy Boulton£40,750
83John Henderson£38,500
84Danny Baggish£37,500
85John O’Shea£36,500
86Jeffrey de Zwaan£33,000
87Gordon Mathers£31,750
88Boris Koltsov£31,750
89Max Hopp£31,250
90Scott Waites£26,750
91Berry van Peer£26,500
92Jimmy Hendriks£26,000
93Danny van Trijp£25,500
94Peter Hudson£24,750
95Kevin Doets£24,500
96Sebastian Bialecki£24,000
97Steve West£23,750
98Jose Justicia£23,000
99Ricardo Pietreczko£23,000
100Eddie Lovely£22,250
101Richie Burnett£22,000
102Ted Evetts£22,000
103Gian van Veen£22,000
104John Michael£21,000
105Mario Vandenbogaerde£20,250
106Leonard Gates£20,000
107Connor Scutt£19,500
108Jon Worsley£19,000
109Geert De Vos£19,000
110Krzysztof Kciuk£18,000
111Brian Raman£17,500
112Rusty-Jake Rodriguez£17,250
113Wesley Plaisier£16,750
114Radek Szaganski£16,500
115Brett Claydon£16,500
116Jack Main£16,500
117Robert Owen£15,500
118George Killington£15,250
119David Cameron£15,000
120Grant Sampson£15,000
121Lourence Ilagan£15,000
122James Wilson£15,000
123Shaun Wilkinson£14,750
124Daniel Larsson£14,500
125Luc Peters£13,000
126Lee Evans£12,750
127Christian Perez£12,500
128Fallon Sherrock£12,500
129Lisa Ashton£12,500
130Damian Mol£12,250
131David Evans£11,750
132Lukas Wenig£11,750
133Tony Martinez£11,250
134Bradley Brooks£11,250
135Jamie Clark£11,000
136Zoran Lerchbacher£10,750
137Kevin Burness£10,250
138John Brown£10,250
139Ross Montgomery£9,750
140Jake Jones£9,250
141Stephen Burton£9,250
142Jules van Dongen£8,750
143Jelle Klaasen£8,000
144Beau Greaves£7,500
145Ben Robb£7,500
146Diogo Portela£7,500
147Mal Cuming£7,500
148Nobuhiro Yamamoto£7,500
149Paolo Nebrida£7,500
150Prakash Jiwa£7,500
151Raymond Smith£7,500
152Toru Suzuki£7,500
153Vladyslav Omelchenko£7,500
154Xicheng Han£7,500
155Nick Fullwell£7,250
156Darren Webster£6,500
157Kenny Neyens£6,250
158Pete Burgoyne£6,000
159Dragutin Horvat£6,000
160Thibault Tricole£5,250
161Dennis Nilsson£5,000
162Matthew Edgar£4,250
163Gary Blades£4,250
164Michael Unterbuchner£4,250
165Jim McEwan£4,000
166Johan Engstrom£4,000
167Niko Springer£4,000
168Scott Marsh£3,250
169Darren Penhall£3,250
170Stefan Bellmont£3,000
171Nico Kurz£3,000
172David Pallett£2,750
173Graham Hall£2,750
174Steve Haggerty£2,250
175Stu Wilson£2,250
176Nathan Girvan£2,000
177Craig Galliano£2,000
178Marko Kantele£2,000
179Vitezslav Sedlak£2,000
180Patrik Gosnak£2,000
181Vladimir Andersen£2,000
182Fabian Schmutzler£2,000
183Dan Read£1,500
184Jim Moston£1,500
185Colin Osborne£1,500
186Owen Roelofs£1,250
187Dylan Duo Jr£1,000
188Dyson Parody£1,000
189Manuel Vilerio£1,000
190Sean Negrette£1,000
191Andy Baetens£1,000
192Francois Schweyen£1,000
193Remo Mandiau£1,000
194Roberto Vandaele£1,000
195Wouter Vanrolleghem£1,000
196Andras Borbely£1,000
197Franz Roetzsch£1,000
198Levente Sarai£1,000
199Pal Szekely£1,000
200Arjan Konterman£1,000
201Rene Eidams£1,000
202Dennie Olde Kalter£1,000
203Filip Sebesta£1,000
204Martijn Dragt£1,000
205Miloslav Navratil£1,000
206Ondrej Plsek£1,000
207Dietmar Burger£1,000
208Michael Rasztovits£1,000
209Rainer Sturm£1,000
210Thomas Junghans£1,000
211Danny Lauby£1,000
212David Schlichting£1,000
213Janos Vegso£1,000
214Ryan Harrington£1,000
215Wayne Jones£1,000
216Christian Kist£750
217Jurjen van der Velde£750
218Thomas Lovely£750
219Jeremy van der Winkel£750
220Gavin Carlin£750
221Carlo van Peer£750
222Jacques Labre£750
223Leighton Bennett£750
224Steven Noster£750