World Darts Federation
 | |
| Abbreviation | WDF |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1974 |
| Type | Darts organisation |
| Website | www |
The World Darts Federation (WDF) is a sport governing body[1][2] and (along with the PDC) a tournament organiser for the game of darts. 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 of Global 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 the WDF World Cup), as well as continental championships such as the WDF Americas Cup, the WDF Asia-Pacific Cup and the WDF 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 the British Darts Organisation in September 2020, the WDF announced plans to launch the WDF World Championship and WDF World Masters.[3] Both competitions took place for the first time in 2022, starting with the 2022 WDF World Darts Championship in April.[4]
Members
[edit]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
Wales
The WDF 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]
Tournament levels and points allocation
[edit]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)
Current points distribution
[edit]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 |
Current WDF World Rankings
[edit]The rankings are based on a cumulative points system similar to ATP 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]
| Rank | Change | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
|
 Jimmy van Schie |
781 |
| 2 |  1
|
 Danny Porter |
629 |
| 3 | 1
|
Brandon Weening |
542 |
| 4 | 1
|
Peter Machin |
485 |
| 5 | 1
|
 Ben Robb |
455 |
| 6 | 10
|
 Brian Raman |
404 |
| 7 | 3
|
 Leonard Gates |
403 |
| 8 | 3
|
 Benjamin Pratnemer |
395 |
| 9 |
|
Jason Brandon |
394 |
| 10 | 2
|
 Carl Wilkinson |
374 |
| 11 | 2
|
 Thomas Junghans |
368 |
| 12 | 2
|
Jarno Bottenberg |
362 |
| 13 | 6
|
James Beeton |
357 |
| 14 | 1
|
Cliff Prior |
338 |
| 15 |  8
|
Alexander Merkx |
328 |
| 16 | 1
|
Howard Jones |
317 |
| 17 | 7
|
 Neil Duff |
310 |
| 18 | 2
|
Sybren Gijbels |
310 |
| 19 | 1
|
Reece Colley |
309 |
| 20 | 1
|
 Ryan Hogarth |
299 |
| 21 | 7
|
Corné Groeneveld |
293 |
| 22 | 8
|
François Schweyen |
293 |
| 23 | 1
|
 Edwin Torbjörnsson |
292 |
| 24 | 1
|
Bradley Kirk |
285 |
| 25 | 1
|
 Shane McGuirk |
279 |
| 26 | 1
|
 Kai Fan Leung |
278 |
| 27 | 2
|
Darren Johnson |
274 |
| 28 | 3
|
Xanti van den Bergh |
265 |
| 29 | 3
|
 Liam Maendl-Lawrance |
265 |
| 30 | 3
|
Scott Walters |
258 |
| Rank | Change | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Beau Greaves |
1620 |
| 2 | 1
|
 Rhian O'Sullivan |
810 |
| 3 | 1
|
Lerena Rietbergen |
776 |
| 4 | 2
|
Aileen de Graaf |
728 |
| 5 |
|
Nicole Regnaud |
700 |
| 6 |
|
Deta Hedman |
686 |
| 7 |
|
Lorraine Hyde |
649 |
| 8 |
|
 Jitka Císařová |
538 |
| 9 |
|
Irina Armstrong |
525 |
| 10 |
|
Joanne Hadley |
523 |
| 11 |
|
Desi Mercer |
508 |
| 12 |
|
Wendy Harper |
493 |
| 13 | 2
|
Sophie McKinlay |
492 |
| 14 |
|
Anca Zijlstra |
468 |
| 15 | 1
|
 Gréta Tekauer |
447 |
| 16 | 2
|
Paige Pauling |
443 |
| 17 | 4
|
Amanda Loch |
427 |
| 18 | 6
|
Kym Mitchell |
397 |
| 19 | 1
|
Priscilla Steenbergen |
393 |
| 20 | 3
|
Kirsty Hutchinson |
390 |
| 21 | 2
|
Paula Jacklin |
389 |
| 22 |
|
Aletta Wajer |
388 |
| 23 | 3
|
Tracy Feiertag |
377 |
| 24 | 3
|
Vicky Pruim |
348 |
| 25 | 4
|
Paula Murphy |
330 |
| 26 | 2
|
Natalie Gilbert |
324 |
| 27 | 2
|
Maud Jansson |
305 |
| 28 | 2
|
 Kirsi Viinikainen |
294 |
| 29 | 2
|
Adriana van Wijgerden |
278 |
| 30 | 3
|
Noa-Lynn van Leuven |
261 |
WDF World No1 men's and women's players (1976–current)
[edit]| 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, although Eric 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 the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) formerly the World Darts Council (WDC). The leading ranked players in 1993/94 split from the BDO and they have their own world ranking system known as the Order of Merit. The players from the PDC are not included in the rankings because the BDO, which is the British governing body of amateur darts, is the one that is recognised by the WDF.
WDF tournaments
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ McNeely, Scott (10 October 2012). Ultimate Book of Sports: The Essential Collection of Rules, Stats, and Trivia for Over 250 Sports. Chronicle Books, September 14, 2012. p. 343. ISBN 9781452110592. Retrieved 4 January 2016 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ a b Nauright, John; Parrish, Charles (2012). Sports Around the World: History, Culture, and Practice. ABC-CLIO. p. 70. ISBN 9781598843002. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
- ^ "Development of World Rankings Criteria For 2021 – WDF". World Darts Federation. 15 September 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
- ^ "Lakeside WDF World Championships 2022 - Rescheduled".
- ^ "Member Countries". World Darts Federation.
- ^ "World Ranking Systems Criteria Seniors 38th ed" (PDF). World Darts Federation. 7.01 Points Allocation Table. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
- ^ "WDF Rules". WDF. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
- ^ "WDF Rules". WDF. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
- ^ "WDF Ranking Systems: 2015 Monetary Awards". WDF. 13 December 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
- ^ "WDF Men's Rankings Table". WDF. 28 January 2025. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
- ^ "WDF Women's Rankings Table". WDF. 28 January 2025. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
- ^ WDF Roll of Honour (previous world number ones)
Sources
[edit]- Kramer, Anne (2013). The Ultimate Book of Darts A Complete Guide to Games, Gear, Terms, and Rules. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. ISBN 9781626365261.
- McNeely, Scott (2012). The ultimate book of sports. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. ISBN 9781452121871.
- editors, John Nauright, Charles Parrish (2012). Sports around the world : history, culture, and practice. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781598843002.
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