4 of the best PDC darts players who never reached World No. 1

3 weeks ago 12

Becoming the World No. 1 in PDC darts is a very tough task, with only the game's greats reaching that position at some point in their career.

However, a handful of former world champions and multiple-time major winners haven't been introduced as World No. 1 before.

4 of the best PDC darts players who never reached World No. 1

Let's take a look at the four players who never quite reached the top of the PDC rankings.

MORE: Every darts player who's qualified for the 2027 PDC World Championship

Gary Anderson

Anderson might be the most shocking name on this list. He was a back-to-back world champion in 2015 and 2016, but never reached the top of the OoM.

It seems nearly impossible, but Michael van Gerwen was on fire during this stretch, nearly winning every other major outside of the WC in these two years.

Anderson is still playing some great darts at this point in his career, but with the new talent entering the sport, combined with Anderson's decline in participation at events, it's unlikely he'll have a chance at removing his name from this conversation before he retires.

Adrian Lewis

Lewis is another player who was a back-to-back world champion during his career (2011 and 2012), but didn't find himself above every other player on the OoM at one point in his career.

Phil Taylor was Lewis' kryptonite in this situation, as he won several of the other majors in the years Lewis was a world champion.

Outside of Lewis' two WC titles, he was the winner of the 2014 UK Open and 2013 European Championship. World No. 2 was the highest position he's ever been on the OoM.

James Wade

Wade is one of darts' most consistent performers from the past 20 years.

He's never made an appearance in a WC final, but has accumulated 11 titles in his career so far (4th most all-time).

He's been in the top 10 for most of his career, but has never gotten to the top. Wade might have the best chance to remove his name from this list of players, but he'd need to become a world champion at some point to give himself a shot.

Rob Cross

Cross was one of the biggest names in darts in the late 2010s, most notably winning the WC in 2018, despite that being his first go at the biggest title in the sport.

The likes of Michael van Gerwen kept him out of the World No. 1 spot, as he was too much for Cross to keep up with.

Cross did win three other titles in his career, with two being at the European Championship and the other being the 2019 World Matchplay.