PDC Stats Analyst Christopher Kempf analyses the form men in world darts based on their last 200 legs played, after the 2023 ProTour season got underway in Barnsley last weekend...
#1 Averages - Michael van Gerwen
#1 OChE - Michael van Gerwen
#1 Doubles - James Wade
#1 171-180 - Ross Smith
#1 99, 101+ Checkout - Luke Woodhouse & Madars Razma
To add to the litany of evidence that the highest average - even by a wide margin - is no guarantee of anything in darts, Michael van Gerwen is three points clear of Dave Chisnall on the list of highest averages over the past 200 legs.
However, the three-time World Champion has not won either of the first two Premier League nights, and suffered a disappointing quarter-final defeat to Rob Cross in January's Masters.
In each of his last four televised losses, Van Gerwen's average was higher than his opponents.
Chris Dobey, winner of the Premier League's opening night in Belfast, ranks only 14th on the averages list (95.48) but scored 160 when it mattered most - a checkout in a last-leg decider to defeat Van Gerwen on Night One.
The doubles title has once again passed to James Wade, whose near 45% accuracy in finishing leads the 128 Tour Card Holders.
Wade's performances would win 55.7% of legs against ProTour opponents, while Chisnall, ranked #2 in averages, wins almost exactly the same percentage with an average 3.3 points higher.
The difference is in their finishing - Chisnall ranks 62nd, with 37% accuracy on his doubles.
In spite of his loss to Danny Noppert in the second Players Championship event, Simon Whitlock made a substantial leap forward in his game, increasing his OChE rating by 4.5 points to 51.86 - his highest level recorded in the past year.
The disappointments of 2021 seem to be behind him now, as 40% doubles accuracy and an output of more than three 180s per 10 legs played augur well for his return to the top 32.
There have been no major victories for Ross Smith since his surprise European Championship title in October, but he remains the most potent scoring threat in darts, as determined by each player's last 200 legs.
His 88 maxima (171-180) are twice as many as recorded by Wade (though The Machine actually wins a higher percentage of Pro Tour legs!) and 80% more than those of Peter Wright.
Smith's averages and OChE, however, have declined since his record-breaking treble output at the World Championship, keeping him within the top 16 but well off the pace of the former World Champions ranked above him.
The most impressive Q School alumnus, in terms of his last 200 legs played, is Corey Cadby, making a fresh start to his career with a 93.55 average and over-50 OChE (indicating more legs won than lost on the Pro Tour).
Nevertheless, Cadby ranks 93rd out of 128 with a checkout success rate of only 35% - on this front he is outperformed by Wales' Nick Kenny, who has already increased his average by more than 3 points relative to where he stood at the beginning of the month.
While Kenny did not advance beyond the last 32 in Barnsley or qualify for either of the first two European Tour events, he has already shown ability to perform (52.43 OChE, #10 in doubles in the PDC) which should see him through these early setbacks.
*OChE (Ordinal Checkout Efficiency) explained:
OChE is a metric designed to evaluate the efficiency at which players convert their averages into legs won.
The statistic is the % of legs a player would expect to win on the ProTour, calculated from a weighted average of 4,5, 6 & 7 visit checkout rates.