It’s Dave Chisnall who makes way for Whitlock, dropping a couple of places.

Mark Walsh is also up 3 spots to 15th, proving what a force he is these days. Could this be the year for Walshy to win a big one? His consistency is reflected in his UWDR ranking and his CV is just missing a major title.

There are lots of new faces in the UWDR this month as well. For varying reasons the following roll call are new on the list…

Dean Winstanley was this months highest climber, rising 106 places to 53rd on the back of winning the German Open.

Here’s the latest Top 20…

This month’s biggest movers were all new entries – Jean-Paul van Acker crashed in at position 208 with 184 points, Roy Gokoel went in at 229 with 144 points, and Nick Fulwell went in at 285 with 94 points.

Further up the table there were big moves for Dave Prins who leapt 24 places to 30th, Joey ten Berge who moved up 10 places to 24th, and John Henderson who’s 8 place improvement lifts the big Scot to 15th.

Henny van der Ster and Fabian Roosenbrand have both cracked the Top 100, while Jan van der Rassel’s 40 place rise sees him sit just outside in 102nd position.

This month’s fall guys are Ted Hankey (down a couple of places to 17th), Mark Webster, Martin Atkins & Co Stompe who all lose a few places and fall to positions 33, 34 & 35.

Barrie Bates’ Players Championship success brought him valuable points that lift the Welshman 15 places to 65th. Bates will be looking to move back into the upper echelons of the UWDR after a dip in form recently, partly due to injury.

PDC players jetted off to Gibraltar in early February for two Players Championship events with Colin Lloyd and Denis Ovens bringing home the bacon. Lloyd’s win pushed him up a couple of places to 18th and Ovens jumped 5 places to number 43 on the back of his first title for some time.

This was followed later in the month by events in Swindon and Derby. Mervyn King bagged a Swindon double, winning the Players Championship event and the UK Open Qualifier, and in the process consolidating his lofty UWDR position of 6th. King has truly cemented his status as one of top PDC pros and has fully realised the undoubted potential that he showed when playing under the BDO banner. Future world champion perhaps?

Current and perpetual world champion, Phil Taylor, returned to competitive action in Derby but didn’t have it all his own way. He took Saturday’s Players Championship event but was beaten in Sunday’s UK Open Qualifier by Mark Walsh. In addition to the scalp of Taylor, Walsh nudged into the top 20, rising two places to number 19.

Over the road in the BDO, Martin Adams won the Dutch Open to leapfrog Tony O’Shea into second place in the UWDR. Adams also benefited from those around him losing points that lapsed after the rolling two year period. There was little other movement in the top 10 with Scott Waites’ final appearance in the Dutch Open seeing him swap places with Terry Jenkins at number 7.

The Scottish Open took place on the 20th and Stuart Kellet took the title. The UWDR point he gained for this shot Stuart up 37 places to 47th. The man he beat in the final was Dennis te Kloese, who rose a meteoric 90 places to 63rd.

Another player who had a good February was Steve Douglas – a semi final spot at the Dutch Open saw him leap 48 places to 66th. Jamie Lewis was rewarded for his good run at the Scottish Open with 864 points and 58 place rise to 72nd.

Highest new entry was a joint effort with Ian Lilley, Patrick Loos & Paul Telford all crashing in at number 132, reward for their performances at the Dutch & Scottish Opens.

The highest climber inside the top 100 was Remco van Eijden who soared 104 places to 81st following his run to the Scottish Open semis. Highest climber overall was Paul Gibbs who marched 216 places up the table to 123rd. Paul reached the Dutch Open quarter finals to amass 432 UWDR points.

Final mention goes to Chris Mason who halted his slide with a semi final appearance at the Derby Players Championship event. This was his best result was a long time and the UWDR points earned pushed him up 22 places to 98th. Chris is trying to give it a real go again this year and we watch with interest to see if he can keep climbing the UWDR table.

Remember, UWDR points last for two years but become worth less as each month goes by. So points come off as well as going on. A player who stands still could go backwards as well as forwards. The only way to prevent a fall is to keep winning! Simples.

Below we take a look at all the movers and shakers of our first published ranking table. With a points system that rewards form, expect plenty of movement over the coming months.

It was no surprise that Phil Taylor nailed his 15^th World Title at The Alexandra Palace and put himself a country mile ahead of the chasing pack in the UWDR. Taylor sits on 44,664 points and is nearly 30,000 points ahead of the man in second, BDO number one Tony O’Shea. The man Taylor overcame in the final, sits nicely in 14^th position in the UWDR. With a sponsor in place, Simon Whitlock will be playing the PDC tour full time so we can expect more of the same from The Wizard in 2010.


At Lakeside, Martin Adams won his second world title and the points he earned sees him sat him in 4^th spot in the UWDR, one place ahead of James Wade. Wolfie conquered Dave Chisnall in the final but Chissy can be pleased with his opening position of 10^th spot in the UWDR. 2010 could also be a good year for the St Helens man.

Raymond van Barneveld opens up at number 3, sandwiched between O’Shea and Adams. Terry Jenkins, Scott Waites & Gary Anderson are all inside the top 10 due to solid 2009 form. Will Waites make the switch and join the PDC jamboree this year? 2009 World Champion, Ted Hankey, sits at unlucky 13, one place behind Adrian Lewis.

Also in January is the Players Championship Finals and the big winner in 2010 is Paul Nicholson. Nicholson lifted the title, the first major trophy of his career, and did it in style, beating Phil Taylor en route. The title has lifted him 28 places to 23 in the rankings, the biggest January mover.

The beaten finalist at Purfleet, Mervyn King, consolidates his position as a consistent top 10 performer at number 6. Colin Osborne is at 16 thanks to his semi final showing at Purfleet, and another mover is Wayne Jones, in 34^th, who reached the quarter finals.

Other players going in the right direction include Steve Beaton, Jelle Klassen & Colin Lloyd. Further down the table Tony Eccles, Peter Wright & Steve Hine are making inroads and will look to climb further during 2010.

For every mover there has to be a shaker. The big shakers, as we go into 2010, are John Part (down to 41), Peter Manley (down at 48), and Wayne Mardle (languishing in 55^th place). All three are stellar names and will be desperate to move back up the rankings this year.