Littler counters Hearn's warning, Wade overtakes van Gerwen in the world rankings & Greaves' Wigan confession

Darts news from 15 September 2026: Littler defends his reduced schedule, Wade overtakes van Gerwen, Greaves on her win over Littler, Hood's restaurant dream, Amsterdam prize money & MODUS.

The stage stays empty today, but the microphone is all the louder: Luke Littler responds to the warning from PDC president Barry Hearn and defends his reduced schedule, the new world rankings bring a swap of places in the top ten, Beau Greaves and Justin Hood give deep insights into their career plans, the PDC announces the prize money for the World Series of Darts Finals – and in Portsmouth the MODUS Super Series rolls on.

The day's key points

Luke Littler responds to Barry Hearn's warning to the top stars – and makes it clear that he will keep skipping tournaments.
James Wade overtakes Michael van Gerwen in the updated Order of Merit and is the new world number six.
Gabriel Clemens climbs one place in the world rankings, Ricardo Pietreczko drops one.
Beau Greaves explains why her win over Littler was the turning point on her way to the PDC Tour.
Justin Hood is sticking to his restaurant dream despite tax and management deductions.
The World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam carry £450,000 in prize money – £50,000 more than last year.
MODUS Super Series: David Evans wins four of five matches and extends his lead in Group A.

Story of the day: Littler counters Hearn – “I don't have to chase every tournament”

Luke Littler has played only two Players Championship events this year, contested just three European Tour events and skipped the World Series stops in New Zealand and Australia entirely. PDC president Barry Hearn recently appealed publicly to the top stars not to make themselves scarce on a regular basis. Today came the world number one's answer – relaxed, but unmistakable.

“It's simply about what is best for me and my family – having those crucial days off,” said the 19-year-old. “I think we'll see more days off, simply to rest. I'm the world number one, and the gap to number two is huge. I can take that step back and don't have to chase every single tournament. That gives me days off and even weeks off – it's about balancing the calendar.”

The numbers back him up: in the Order of Merit, Littler sits on £3,156,500, with Luke Humphries second on £1,022,000 – more than three times less. What Littler cannot ignore, though: his stated goal of winning all ten major titles in one season depends on tournaments he cannot simply skip. He has already won six majors in 2026, and the title in Amsterdam would be number seven. And after that a problem of his own making awaits: for the Players Championship Finals in Minehead he first has to qualify via the floor rankings – after skipping the first 26 Pro Tour events before entering the Players Championships in Leicester.

“I can't look any further ahead than what comes next, and that's the World Series in Amsterdam,” Littler said. “If I hopefully win the World Series, then on Tuesday and Wednesday I'll be in Den Bosch at the Pro Tours trying to qualify for Minehead.” Should he fall short in Amsterdam, rest mode is likely to take priority again.

Stephen Bunting put it into context: Littler has changed the sport since he burst onto the scene – but in his estimation “The Nuke” will not get near Phil Taylor's 16 world titles.

World rankings: Wade edges past van Gerwen

The updated PDC Order of Merit brings movement in the top ten. James Wade is the new world number six on £679,750 and has overtaken Michael van Gerwen, who drops to seventh on £651,000. The gap is £28,750. The basis for the jump is Wade's title at the Flanders Darts Trophy in Antwerp – his first European Tour win in more than ten years. Wade, who began the year as number eleven, also points to strong major performances as the foundation of his upswing, among them the UK Open final and the quarter-final at the World Matchplay.

Things could get even more uncomfortable for van Gerwen before the World Grand Prix: the £40,000 from his titles at Players Championship 21 and the Hungarian Darts Trophy in 2024 will soon drop out of the two-year ranking.

The top ten at a glance:

1. Luke Littler – £3,156,500
2. Luke Humphries – £1,022,000
3. Gian van Veen – £1,016,250
4. Gerwyn Price – £737,500
5. Jonny Clayton – £690,500
6. James Wade – £679,750 (+1)
7. Michael van Gerwen – £651,000 (−1)
8. Josh Rock – £627,000
9. Stephen Bunting – £615,250 (+1)
10. Danny Noppert – £613,750 (+1)

Notable: Gian van Veen is only £5,750 away from second place. Gary Anderson, who skipped Antwerp and generally plays few ranking tournaments, slips two places to eleventh. Beau Greaves climbs two positions to 74th in her first year with a Tour Card. And Niels Zonneveld and William O'Connor have qualified for the World Grand Prix via the Pro Tour rankings for the first time in more than a decade.

Darts in Germany: Clemens overtakes Van den Bergh, Pietreczko loses a place

In the new world rankings Martin Schindler remains unchanged as the German number one in 19th place on £445,250. Ricardo Pietreczko slips one place to 34th (£266,000), Niko Springer stays 38th on £228,750. Gabriel Clemens improves by one rank to 47th (£181,000) thanks to reaching the second round at the Flanders Darts Trophy and thus moves past Dimitri Van den Bergh, who keeps losing ground without a Tour Card and now sits 48th. Behind them come Lukas Wenig (63rd), Max Hopp (68th), Dominik Grüllich (78th) and Florian Hempel (83rd). The German flag is not represented in Amsterdam – no German player has qualified for the 32-player field.

Looking to Amsterdam: £450,000 and a defending champion seeded first

The PDC today announced the prize money for the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam: £450,000 will be shared out – £50,000 more than last year. The winner collects £100,000, the runner-up £60,000, the semi-finalists £30,000 each, the quarter-finalists £17,500, round two brings £10,000 and the first round £5,000. Because the tournament is an invitational event and does not count towards the Order of Merit, the title remains purely a question of prestige and prize money.

Defending champion Michael van Gerwen tops the seedings, a position he earned with his World Series titles in Bahrain and Denmark. Behind him come Gerwyn Price as number two and Luke Littler as number three – for Littler, Amsterdam is the next building block in his major collection; for van Gerwen it is the chance to show in front of a home crowd that losing his ranking place to Wade was only a snapshot.

Beau Greaves: “It doesn't get much better than him, does it?”

Beau Greaves explained today which moment shaped her move to the PDC Tour: the 6:5 win over Luke Littler in the semi-final of the World Youth Championship in Wigan, where she won with an average of 105 against Littler's 107.4 and sealed the decisive leg with an 11-darter. “I think I played really well, and he played really well,” Greaves said. “Beating him strangely gave me a huge amount of confidence. You can literally beat anyone – it doesn't get much better than him, does it?”

Since then the Englishwoman has become the first woman to win a Players Championship event, secured a Tour Card, made her European Tour debut, qualified for the Grand Slam of Darts and now stands 74th in the world rankings – proof that the confidence from Wigan has turned into substance.

Justin Hood: the restaurant dream lives on – despite deductions

Justin Hood, who became a sensation by reaching the quarter-finals of the World Championship at Alexandra Palace, still wants to open his own Chinese restaurant. The £100,000 in prize money clearly exceeded his original target of £60,000 – but reality caught up with him. “It was the goal, it's still the goal,” said the man from Somerset. “After we'd paid management and all the taxes, far less was left than I thought. But at some point it stays the goal.” High-profile investors are said to be ready: Luke Humphries and Luke Littler have both expressed interest – “but I can't trust those two anywhere near my food.”

MODUS Super Series: Evans marches on in Portsmouth

At the MODUS Super Series (Series 15, week 7) in Portsmouth, David Evans again won four of five matches on the second day of Group A and leads the table clearly with 16 points. Benito van de Pas won three times, including a 4:0 against Panagiotis Chrysospathis and a 4:2 against Henry Cooper. Cooper started the day with three straight 4:1 wins but then lost to Chrysospathis (3:4) and van de Pas. Kai Fan Leung managed only one win today. Behind Evans are Leung, Richie Howson and van de Pas on 10 points each, followed by Cooper (8) and Chrysospathis (6).

Chrysospathis – Evans 2:4
van de Pas – Howson 4:3
Leung – Cooper 1:4
Howson – Chrysospathis 4:1
Evans – Cooper 1:4
van de Pas – Leung 2:4
Cooper – Howson 4:1
Chrysospathis – van de Pas 0:4
Leung – Evans 0:4
Chrysospathis – Cooper 4:3
Howson – Leung 4:3
van de Pas – Evans 1:4
Leung – Chrysospathis 3:4
Cooper – van de Pas 2:4
Evans – Howson 4:3

You can find the detailed report in our own tournament article.

What's on tomorrow

On Wednesday in Portsmouth the MODUS Super Series moves into the third and final group day of Group A – the table-topper secures the ticket for Finals Night on Saturday, the other five are spread across Groups B and C. On the PDC stage things stay quiet tomorrow, before the World Series of Darts Finals begin on Thursday at the AFAS Live.