In the world today, the game of darts has taken a major turn toward the professional realm.

With worldwide competitions and players that have skills that require years of practice, darts has grown from a bar game to a real sports event.

With the creation of the World Darts Corporation and the World Darts Championship becoming huge names across the globe, this sport has grown significantly.

Recently, the 27^th PDC World Darts Championship wrapped up its almost month-long tournament on January 1^st, 2020 in London and crowned the winners.

With players from England, Serbia, America, and the Netherlands, this competition showed the cream of the darts-playing crop compete for the honor of being called the champion.

So, with this competition ending earlier this month, we thought we’d take a look at the current rankings of darts players from around the world. Who is the best of the best? Who is the best of all time? Keep reading to find out.

Current Champion: Peter Wright

Starting from the top choice is the current world champion, Peter Wright. At the PDC World Darts Championship, he was crowned the winner after defeating the reigning champion, Michael Van Gerwan.

He won with a score of 7 to 3 in the final match and took the title of World Champion for the first time in his career.

Route to the Title | Peter Wright | 2019/20 World Championship:

Wright had first entered a major competition in 1995 BDO Worlds Darts Championship, but after being beaten in the first round, he stuck to local tournaments and played in a darts league for the following ten years.

This was before his wife, Joanne, convinced him to enter into the professional realm again.

In 2005, he restarted his professional career at the UK Open and lost in the third round. However, with his reintroduction into the darts world, he decided that he wanted to take his career as far as it could go.

Within the next few years, he entered into dozens of competitions and tested his skills. He slowly but surely rose in the ranks and by 2017, he had won his first major title.

From then on, he stayed in the spotlight and took second place in a number of competitions until making his debut as a world champion this year.

However, with his recent new title change, nothing overshadows his dart throwing skills.

“The story has just started” | Peter Wright | My Story:

Fallon Sherrock

This England-born darts player is breaking through glass ceilings as she becomes the first woman to make a name for herself in the men’s realm as she competes and wins in the PDC World Darts Championship.

With her winning two matches against male players in this competition, she became the first woman to beat a man in this tournament.

FALLON SHERROCK DEFEATS SULJOVIC | 2019/20 World Championship:

Sherrock was first put on the map in 2012 when she won the title at the Girl’s World Masters and the Women’s Jersey Open. She went on to the BDO World Championship in 2014 and ranked high as she nearly beat out the reigning champion.

She took second place again in 2015 when she again entered the BDO World Championship where she hit six 180s and impressed many fans and competitors. After that, she competed in a number of competitions where she beginning taking titles for herself.

Because of her impressive performance during this major competition, which took place at the Alexandra Palace in London, she was dubbed “The Queen of the Palace.”

All Access PDC | Fallon Sherrock’s Premier League Debut:

Michael Smith

As a young man that didn’t pick up his first dart until he was on crouches, at this time he threw his first 180. After that, he knew that he wanted to compete in local competitions.

With many wins and high ranks in many of these local tournaments, he began his professional career in 2009 when he competed in the UK Open. Although he lost in the first round, he was a young player who knew he could do better.

In 2010, he again competed in the UK Open, but this time made it to the last 32. He went on to make his debut as a full-time professional player at the 2012 World Championships.

This led him to qualify for the World Matchplay, and enter the World Grand Prix. Because of his performance in these two tournaments, he was the 25^th in the Order of Merit out of the 32 qualifiers.

For a young man of his age, being in his early twenties and winning these matches, he became one of the players to watch. After numerous invitations to compete in the World Champions, he made his way up the ranks.

In 2019, Smith made it into the semi-finals of the World Championship for the first time. Playing against many dart-throwers who had ten years or more of experience on him, he was still able to beat out big-name players to enter the finals against Michael Van Gerwan.

With years of tournaments and competitions ahead of him, he is considered one of the best young players, and one to watch out for.

Michael Smith | Route to the Final | 2019 Betfred World Matchplay”

Raymond Van Barnevald

This just-retired Dutch professional dart player has a long history of wins under his belt and leaves the sport with a legacy of greatness behind him. Barnevald, lovingly nicknamed Barney, is a multi-world champion who is known as one of the greatest players of all time.

Barnevald is left-handed, however, he uses his right hand to throw his darts. This has set him apart from many of his competitors who seemingly have the advantage of using their dominant hands.

How To Play Darts | My Throw 2.0 with Raymond van Barneveld:

That has not slowed him down one bit. He began when he was just 17 years old, but was shown to be a major competitor right off the bat. With his first tournament win in the Rotterdam Open, he was put on the radar.

Barnevald competed in his first world finals in 1991, where he was in the Embassy World Championship.

Although he did not turn many heads with his performance in this tournament, he continued to compete in many competitions where he would go on to win second place in a number of them and head to his first world final in 1995.

After being beaten in the semi-finals or finals, then losing the second round for the next two years, Barnevald was determined to step it up.

This final reached 5-5 in sets, with a strong win in the final set by Barnevald winning 4-2 in legs on double 8.

After this win, he went on to defend this new title the next year, where he succeeded and become the second player in history to do so. In 2003, he won hid third world title and then his fourth in 2005.

However, after an attempt to win this fifth world title, he decided to switch from the BDO to the PDC. This was a major move for him, who had twenty years in the BDO, but he didn’t disappoint.

With his incredible track record and his ambitious switch to the PDC, he has retired a five-time World Champion winner with a long list of other titles to put on his resume.

Raymond van Barneveld speaks ahead of his retirement from professional darts…

Michael Van Gerwan

This Dutchman is one of the top choices and is currently ranked the number one darts player in the world. Getting his start in darts at the age of 13, he was a young player that was a force to be reckoned with.

He began winning titles at the age of 17, and has since gone on to win multiple world champions and became the youngest person ever to win the title of World Champion.

However, after that, he did struggle to win titles for the next few years. He continued practicing and competing until he rose from number 38 to number 4.

WHAT A FINAL! MICHAEL VAN GERWEN WINS THE 2019 PADDY POWER CHAMPIONS LEAGUE:

In 2013, he grabbed his first major title at the World Grand Prix and got into the finals of the World Championship. Although he did not win in 2013, the next year proved to be a major step forward for him.

Gerwan has participated in a large number of darts tournaments and has succeeded in almost everyone he has competed in. He has a total of 75 PDC Pro Tour wins and has even passed up Phil Taylor, who held the previous record of 70.

He has competed in competitions all over the world and holds the record for the first player to win 30 European Tour titles and set the highest average in a PDC World Tournament by getting 114.05.

In 2013, he also won an award for being the first player to beat Phil Taylor twice in a major final. He is still competing today, and will likely go on to grab even more titles along the way.

MICHAEL VAN GERWEN WINS THE 2019 PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS:

Phillip “Phil” Taylor

Although this English darts powerhouse has retired within the last few years, he has gone down in history as one of the greatest darts players ever. As a man that holds records that current players are still attempting to beat, he deserves to be mentioned.

At the age of 16, Taylor left school and began working full-time and didn’t think about playing darts professionally until his wife purchase a dartboard for his birthday.

After he started practicing, he began playing in tournaments in local pubs and ended up playing for the county team and playing at the Super League level. After a sponsor from the pub owner where he played, he began his professional career.

This record is an amazing feat that has yet to be surpassed. Taylor was the number one world ranking darts player for a whopping thirteen years, eight of those being consecutive.

After the BDO’s popularity began to falter, Taylor and sixteen of his fellow darts top players decided to form their own organization which they called the World Dart’s Council.

The name was eventually changed to what is now known as the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). This organization put on a number of different events and now hosts the PDC World Championships.

His nomination led him to become the runner-up, in which he became the only darts champion to get that far. He was also inducted into the Stoke-on-Trent Sporting Hall of Fame and was also inducted into the PDC Hall of Fame in 2011.

Phil Taylor’s last Matchplay title! 2017 World Matchplay Final – Full Match: