Wessel Nijman clinches Players Championship 30 title

Wessel Nijman sealed his second ProTour title at Players Championship 30 on Thursday with a crushing 8-3 win over Damon Heta in the final in Leicester.

Nijman stormed to victory in stunning style at the Mattioli Arena, averaging 103.4 and missing double 12 for a nine-darter during a dominant display against the Australian number one.

Almost a year to the day since his maiden ProTour title, Nijman produced a series of classy performances to claim the £15,000 top prize and double his Players Championship title tally.

The Dutchman began with a 103 average in his opening round win over Tom Bissell, before following up victory over Marvin van Velzen with a 6-0 whitewash of Andy Baetens.

After overturning a 3-1 deficit against Cameron Menzies in the Last 16 to prevail 6-4, Nijman then swept aside Chris Dobey and Ryan Searle to set up a final clash with Heta.

The pair could not be separated after six legs, before Nijman produced a five-leg burst to race to the title, registering 14, 15, 14, 11 and 14-dart legs to cap off a memorable triumph.

The 25-year-old also came agonisingly close to landing a nine-darter in a high-quality final, missing double 12 for perfection in the penultimate leg.

“I felt like this was coming. I’ve been playing really well over the last three days,” admitted Nijman, a semi-finalist at Players Championship 29 on Wednesday.

“It would have been nice to hit the nine-darter, but I was more worried about winning this final, and I’m so happy I did.”

Next up for Nijman is a debut appearance at the World Grand Prix on Monday as he prepares to make his double-start debut against 2018 World Champion Rob Cross.

“It’s a dream to play in these major tournaments like the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and European Championship,” added Nijman.

“This is what we work all year for. We will have to see what next week brings, but I will try and approach it like any other tournament.”

Heta also warmed up for next week’s double-start event with a strong showing in Leicester, dropping just eight legs in victories over Lukas Wenig, Thibault Tricole, Cam Crabtree and Jeffrey de Graaf.

The former World Cup champion continued his charge with a 6-3 win against Rob Owen in the quarter-finals, before surviving six match darts to punish Wesley Plaisier in a dramatic semi-final.

Plaisier surrendered just five legs in racing through to the quarter-finals, where he won through a deciding-leg battle against former World Youth Champion Bradley Brooks.

Tuesday’s Players Championship 28 winner Searle completed the semi-final line-up, only to fall short in his bid for a second ranking title in the space of three days.

Brooks, meanwhile, dispatched world number one Luke Humphries and World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker to maintain his terrific ProTour form this season.

The Blackburn ace, a Players Championship event winner in July, was joined in the Last Eight by Welsh star Owen, world number eight Chris Dobey and Grand Slam semi-finalist Mickey Mansell.

Humphries, Jonny Clayton and Gary Anderson were amongst the high-profile casualties in round three, with top seed Josh Rock and Wednesday’s winner Ross Smith losing their opening round ties.

Luke Littler, Nathan Aspinall and Michael van Gerwen are among the names currently outside of the provisional qualification places for November’s Players Championship Finals with four events remaining before the cut-off.

Players Championship 30 Results

Thursday October 2

First Round
Connor Scutt 6-2 Peter Wright
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-1 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Callan Rydz 6-5 Josh Rock
Max Hopp 6-5 Pero Ljubic
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 George Killington
Brendan Dolan 6-2 Richard Veenstra
Chris Dobey 6-2 Jitse Van der Wal
Brett Claydon 6-5 James Hurrell
Raymond van Barneveld 6-0 Michele Turetta
Gabriel Clemens 6-5 Adam Paxton
Cameron Menzies 6-1 Berry van Peer
Graham Hall 6-1 Jim Williams
Daryl Gurney 6-5 Ricky Evans
Andy Baetens 6-1 Leon Weber
Wessel Nijman 6-4 Tom Bissell
Marvin van Velzen 6-1 Tytus Kanik
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Matt Campbell
Viktor Tingstrom 6-5 Matthew Dennant
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Thomas Lovely
Dom Taylor 6-3 Patrick Geeraets
Chris Landman 6-5 Niko Springer
Michael Smith 6-4 Kai Gotthardt
Ryan Searle 6-0 Jose De Sousa
Jim Long 6-2 Lee Cocks
Mickey Mansell 6-4 Dave Chisnall
Justin Hood 6- Martijn Dragt
Christian Kist 6-4 Ross Smith
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Haupai Puha
Ryan Joyce 6-0 Mensur Suljovic
Joe Hunt 6-1 Jamai van den Herik
Nathan Aspinall 6-5 Dominik Gruellich
Scott Waites 6-2 Adam Hunt
Adam Lipscombe 6-5 Kevin Doets
Ian White 6-0 Benjamin Reus
Martin Schindler 6-3 Owen Bates
Rob Owen 6-4 Stefaan Henderyck
Luke Woodhouse 6-4 Jack Tweddell
Steve Lennon 6-5 Martin Lukeman
Gary Anderson 6-3 Mervyn King
Karel Sedlacek 6-2 Carl Sneyd
William O’Connor 6-2 Maik Kuivenhoven
Cam Crabtree 6-4 Greg Ritchie
Damon Heta 6-2 Lukas Wenig
Thibault Tricole 6-5 Alan Soutar
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Jelle Klaasen
Darren Beveridge 6-4 Andy Boulton
Danny Noppert 6-5 Ted Evetts
Jeffrey De Graaf 6-4 Florian Hempel
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-1 Dylan Slevin
Bradley Brooks 6-2 Adam Warner
Luke Humphries 6-4 Ryan Meikle
Radek Szaganski 6-5 Stephen Burton
Mike De Decker 6-2 Tavis Dudeney
Darius Labanauskas 6-4 Robert Grundy
Scott Williams 6-1 Jermaine Wattimena
Dennie Olde Kalter 6-4 Maximilian Czerwinski
Niels Zonneveld 6-5 Rhys Griffin
Danny Lauby 6-5 Nick Kenny
Gian van Veen 6-4 Darryl Pilgrim
Cor Dekker 6-5 Sebastian Bialecki
Joe Cullen 6-3 Stefan Bellmont
Wesley Plaisier 6-2 Keane Barry
Madars Razma 6-4 James Wade
Ritchie Edhouse 6-2 Nathan Rafferty

Second Round
Connor Scutt 6-5 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Max Hopp 6-3 Callan Rydz
Brendan Dolan 6-0 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Chris Dobey 6-1 Brett Claydon
Gabriel Clemens 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Cameron Menzies 6-5 Graham Hall
Andy Baetens 6-3 Daryl Gurney
Wessel Nijman 6-3 Marvin van Velzen
Andrew Gilding 6-0 Viktor Tingstrom
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Dom Taylor
Chris Landman 6-4 Michael Smith
Ryan Searle 6-4 Jim Long
Mickey Mansell 6-1 Justin Hood
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Christian Kist
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Joe Hunt
Scott Waites 6-5 Nathan Aspinall
Adam Lipscombe 6-5 Ian White
Rob Owen 6-4 Martin Schindler
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Steve Lennon
Gary Anderson 6-3 Karel Sedlacek
Cam Crabtree 6-5 William O’Connor
Damon Heta 6-3 Thibault Tricole
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Darren Beveridge
Jeffrey De Graaf 6-2 Danny Noppert
Bradley Brooks 6-3 Ricardo Pietreczko
Luke Humphries 6-3 Radek Szaganski
Mike De Decker 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
Dennie Olde Kalter 6-5 Scott Williams
Niels Zonneveld 6-0 Danny Lauby
Gian van Veen 6-2 Cor Dekker
Wesley Plaisier 6-1 Joe Cullen
Madars Razma 6-2 Ritchie Edhouse

Last 32
Max Hopp 6-1 Connor Scutt
Chris Dobey 6-2 Brendan Dolan
Cameron Menzies 6-5 Gabriel Clemens
Wessel Nijman 6-0 Andy Baetens
Andrew Gilding 6-0 Jonny Clayton
Ryan Searle 6-4 Chris Landman
Mickey Mansell 6-3 Kim Huybrechts
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Scott Waites
Rob Owen 6-4 Adam Lipscombe
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Gary Anderson
Damon Heta 6-0 Cam Crabtree
Jeffrey De Graaf 6-2 Krzysztof Ratajski
Bradley Brooks 6-2 Luke Humphries
Mike De Decker 6-3 Dennie Olde Kalter
Niels Zonneveld 6-5 Gian van Veen
Wesley Plaisier 6-1 Madars Razma

Last 16
Chris Dobey 6-0 Max Hopp
Wessel Nijman 6-4 Cameron Menzies
Ryan Searle 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Mickey Mansell 6-2 Ryan Joyce
Rob Owen 6-2 Luke Woodhouse
Damon Heta 6-3 Jeffrey De Graaf
Bradley Brooks 6-1 Mike De Decker
Wesley Plaisier 6-1 Niels Zonneveld

Quarter-Finals
Wessel Nijman 6-2 Chris Dobey
Ryan Searle 6-3 Mickey Mansell
Damon Heta 6-3 Rob Owen
Wesley Plaisier 6-5 Bradley Brooks

Semi-Finals
Wessel Nijman 7-2 Ryan Searle
Damon Heta 7-6 Wesley Plaisier

Final
Wessel Nijman 8-3 Damon Heta