Wessel Nijman has surged to the top of the European Tour Order of Merit following his Slovak Darts Open victory on Sunday night. The Dutchman now leads Ross Smith by a £16,000 margin, with £101,000 in prize money compared to Smith's £85,000. Nijman's 8-3 demolition of Rob Cross in the final secured his eighth ranking title of 2026 and propelled him past Smith for the No.1 spot.
Rob Cross, despite losing the final, was one of the biggest gainers in the race to Dortmund. He climbed 13 places to 14th after reaching the final. Tom Sykes also made headlines, reaching the semi-finals on his European Tour debut and skyrocketing 48 spots from 91st to 43rd. Mike De Decker advanced 45 places to 40th after a quarter-final run, while Nathan Aspinall rose to 4th following his quarter-final loss to Cross.
Andrew Gilding moved up to 17th, Jermaine Wattimena to 18th, and Ryan Searle, Chris Dobey, and Stephen Bunting all improved their positions despite early exits, now sitting 16th, 19th, and 30th respectively. Luke Littler dropped to 13th after not playing.
It was a poor weekend for several big names. Martin Schindler fell from 17th to 23rd, Gian van Veen from 14th to 20th, and Jonny Clayton from 15th to 21st. Damon Heta slipped to 24th, James Wade dropped out of the top 30, and Gerwyn Price descended from 5th to 7th. Luke Humphries now teeters on the edge of the top 10.