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Since the 1980s, darts has spread around the world at a rapid rate. England's once darting dominance has been compromised and nations outside of the United Kingdom have produced countless world-class darts players, so we look at whether England is still really the best darts nation and which other nations make up the top 10 as of 2020.
Honourable mentions go to Canada, Japan, Poland, Spain and the United States, who can collectively boast players such as Jeff Smith, Seigo Asada, Krzysztof Ratajski, Cristo Reyes and Danny Baggish, but all of these nations narrowly missed out on the top 10.
#10 Republic of Ireland
Steve Lennon and William O'Connor made headlines by reaching the World Cup of Darts final last year, putting out two favourites England and the Netherlands on their way with some sublime performances. These two are both ranked in the thirties of the professional rankings though and boast of very little depth in darting spheres.
BDO World Master John O'Shea is the best veteran Ireland can offer, along with former PDC professional Mick McGowan, but youngsters seem to be the strong point of this nation. Ciaran Teehan and Keane Barry are the two who are most famous, while Shane McGuirk is also near the top of the youth world rankings. These three, along with Lennon and O'Connor, could push the Republic of Ireland very high in this list in the future, but for now, they are tenth.
#9 Austria
Having a world-class top 10 player has helped the development of Austrian darts hugely. Mensur Suljović started the Austrian darts revolution when he shot to the top of the sport in recent years, but a country needs to have a multitude of stars to make this list, so who else from Austria is big in the sport?
The trio of brothers Rowby-John, Roxy-James and Rusty-Jake are all ever-present around European darts tournaments while veteran Zoran Lerchbacher and new tour card holder Harald Leitinger also prove to be tough competitors on the professional circuit.
They would be a force to be reckoned with in the World Cup if they are to produce another world-class star to join Suljović though, which prevents a higher ranking on this list.
#8 Germany
Without any doubt, the fastest growing darts nation, Germany have started to finally prove strength in numbers by producing top players coming through after legions of Germans picked up the sport back in the early 2010s. Max Hopp was billed the first German superstar, although he hasn't reached the heights he was estimated at yet, meaning German's first top 16 player is still yet to be seen.
Tour card holders Martin Schindler and Steffen Siepmann are decent players while Nico Kurz and Michael Unterbuchner also show a lot of promise, but Gabriel Clemens, nicknamed 'The German Giant', appears a genuine contender for future stardom.
Relentless scoring power and ruthless finishing are part of his repetoire when he is on form, something regularly seen in floor tournaments. The potential strength in depth for the future is the really impressive element for this nation.
#7 Northern Ireland
Many may think Northern Irish darts has little depth, similar to their neighbours to the south, but there are a huge amount of stars waiting to make their impact. 'The History Maker', Brendan Dolan, was the first star of the nation and spearheaded the growth of the sport in the country. Daryl Gurney became the first superstar though, as 'Superchin' has went on to have a huge impact in professional darts.
Other professionals in the system include Mickey Mansell, Gavin Carlin and Kevin Burness, although the most exciting pair are outside of the professional game. Playing in the second tier of the sport in the Challenge Tour are youth star Nathan Rafferty and the very explosive and well renowned Kyle McKinstry, who could well make a huge mark in the PDC when he gains a tour card some time in the coming years.
#6 Belgium
Despite having players such as Eric Clarys in the 1980's, it was two brothers in modern times who became the real pioneers of Belgian darts. Kim and Ronny Huybrechts have both starred in PDC tournaments since 2011 and even made the World Cup final as a pairing in 2013.
A plethora of new and recent Belgian darts players include Geert de Vos, Mario Vandenbogaerde and Mike de Decker but Dimitri Van den Bergh tops them all. The World No.29 has bags of talent and a fondness for television tournaments, where Van den Bergh excels. His problem moving into the top tier of the sport seems to be non televised form, where he sometimes struggles to bring his best game.
#5 Australia
Darts in Australia first came to prominence in 2002, when Queenslander Tony David won the BDO World Championship, beating top thrower Mervyn King in the final. Since then, the nation have been on the up and up. Simon Whitlock, Paul Nicholson and Kyle Anderson are the three who have attracted most attention, although Nicholson has now redacted Australian citizenship having been born in Newcastle, England.
While Whitlock and Anderson are still the Aussies' top two stars, new names since the early days coming through include the dynamic Damon Heta, wily campaigners Peter Machin and Justin Thompson and the exuberant Corey Cadby, who despite controversy has clear talent and could prove to be Australia's star of the future in the sport.
#4 Scotland
The depth of Scottish darts might not necessarily be as good as Wales or even Belgium and Australia, but a whole host of world-class players means Scotland is near the summit of darts countries. Gary Anderson and Peter Wright, who are the World Cup champions, are the best two Scottish darts stars but more incredible players lie in wait further down the rankings.
John Henderson is one of those players in the top 32 in the world and the incredibly popular Aberdeen player is the best of the rest outside the Anderson and Wright duo. Other Scottish talents include the experienced Robert Thornton and Ross Montgomery while younger Scots include Cameron Menzies and Ryan Hogarth, who are fringe players in the professional system, which points to a less dominant future for the nation.
#3 Wales
Welsh darts is booming at the moment and it may all stem from darts' first real champion, Leighton Rees. Glamorgan native Rees won the World Championship back in 1978 and Wales has produced some incredible players since. Richie Burnett is considered one of the most talented players of all time but has since dropped off in the professional ranks, while Mark Webster and Martin Phillips are also recent success stories.
The current crop is what sees Wales placed at three here, however. In the PDC, Gerwyn Price is making waves while Jonny Clayton, Jamie Lewis and Nick Kenny join him on the professional tour as very capable and explosive players. In the BDO, which is essentially the semi-professional alternative to the Professional Darts Corporation, the World Champion is Wayne Warren with the No.1 being Jim Williams. Both of these big names contested the recent BDO World Championship final and can be considered among the top players in the sport.
#2 Netherlands
England or the Netherlands? That was always the question. To list the talented players of both nations would be impossible to do without writing an essay of just the names. For us, the Dutch are just behind at the moment despite having the best player in the world as a part of their fold. After Raymond van Barneveld inspired literally an entire nation, the sport became the second most popular behind football, a phenomenon only ever seen in Germany after that.
Aside from Van Gerwen, dutch stars reel off the tongue with Jeffrey de Zwaan, Jermaine Wattimena, Danny Noppert, Vincent Van der Voort, Ron Meulenkamp, Wesley Harms, Martijn Kleermaker and Richard Veenstra all at the very top of their nation's darts iceberg, which we have only covered the very tip of. In the popular non-professional tournament the nation holds, the Dutch Open, almost six thousand, yes six thousand, entered last month, proving the astonishing devotion of the Netherlands to darts.
#1 England
While having easily the largest legion of darts players in the professional darts world, the home nation of the sport are distinctly lacking in players at the very peak of the sport's mountain. Van Gerwen of the Netherlands, Wright and Anderson of Scotland and Gerwyn Price are the top four players in the world and for the first time ever no English player made a world final in the PDC or BDO World Championship.
You might be asking how England have been put ahead of the Netherlands in this case, but the lack of major titles is a problem that simply veils over the dominant nature of English darts. Half of the top 20 in the world are English as opposed to just two of each other nation at the most while over 50% comprise the top 32 players, which is the number considered to be representative of the world-class section of darts.
As far as professionals go, there are 59 English professionals and the top players include Rob Cross, Michael Smith and Nathan Aspinall. Cross is a former world champion and not the only pro who can claim that feat. Adrian Lewis, Stephen Bunting, Glen Durrant, Steve Beaton, Scott Waites and former four-time women's champion Lisa Ashton are all world-class operators, while Smith and Aspinall are considered likely future champions, especially Smith, who is hailed as a potential darting great of the future.
