Wessel Nijman scoops fantastic fourth Players Championship title of 2026
Wessel Nijman continued his incredible start to 2026 by securing his fourth Players Championship title of the year in Milton Keynes on Tuesday.
Nijman, who also claimed the European Darts Trophy title last month, prevailed in an all-Dutch final against Jermaine Wattimena to clinch the £15,000 top prize at Arena MK.
Wattimena established an early 4-2 lead as he sought to claim his first ranking title since October, but only for Nijman to win six of the next seven legs to wrap up an impressive 8-5 victory.
“It was kind of a nervy final. I went behind after missing some doubles,” reflected Nijman, who has made five finals in just ten Players Championship appearances this year.
“I’m so happy I kept it together. There were some finishes I hit with the last dart, the 57 [to go 6-5 up] was important.
“When it clicks together and you play those finals, and you’ve been playing those games all day long, the next time you come, you remember that.
“Me and Jermaine will be close in the next few months, but this is a big step into the top 16 and hopefully there will be many more steps made.
“Top 16 was one of the goals I had at the start of the year, to get that privilege of starting on the Saturday [in Euro Tours] and starting on the left side of the draw in big majors.”
Having opened his challenge with a commanding 6-2 win over Scott Williams, Nijman survived a match dart against Tom Sykes in round two, overturning a 5-4 deficit in the process.
The Dutchman continued his charge with a 6-3 victory over Sebastian Bialecki, before sweeping aside Ryan Searle by the same scoreline – his sixth straight win over the World Championship semi-finalist.
Following a routine 6-2 success against Nathan Potter, Nijman produced his best performance of the day in his semi-final clash against Tom Bissell, averaging 103.4 to seal a 7-4 victory.
This set up a decisive showdown with his fellow countryman Wattimena – who enjoyed the better of the early exchanges courtesy of some clinical combination finishing.
However, Nijman responded with a three-leg flurry – including an 11-dart break – to lead 5-4, before defying an 80 checkout from Wattimena to regain the initiative at 6-5.
Wattimena then squandered six darts at double to restore parity in a pivotal twelfth leg, and Nijman duly capitalised, before firing in a 14-dart hold to seal his eighth PDC ranking title.
Despite missing out on a third Players Championship title, Wattimena made a timely return to form in Milton Keynes, having failed to progress beyond the Last 16 of a ranking event in 2026 prior to Tuesday’s action.
The 2024 European Championship runner-up overcame his compatriots Martijn Dragt and Sietse Lap to kick off proceedings, which he backed up with battling wins over Joe Hunt and Tommy Lishman.
Wattimena then averaged 104.4 in a superb quarter-final win over Chris Dobey, before delivering a doubling masterclass in his 7-3 success against fellow Dutch star Kevin Doets.
Doets was featuring in back-to-back semi-finals following another strong showing at Arena MK, which included wins over Gabriel Clemens, Mike De Decker and a 6-1 rout of Gary Anderson.
The 27-year-old was joined in the last four by Bissell, who produced arguably the most impressive campaign of his PDC career to progress to a second Players Championship semi-final.
Bissell averaged 100.4 across six matches, accounting for Ross Smith and Max Hopp, while also whitewashing Monday’s champion Beau Greaves in the Last 16.
Anderson – a semi-finalist on Monday – produced more huge numbers in his run to the quarter-finals, averaging 107 and 105 in victories over Yorick Hofkens and Krzysztof Ratajski respectively.
Meanwhile, Dobey – a winner of two Players Championship titles in 2026 – also advanced to the Last Eight alongside a resurgent Hopp.
Potter completed the quarter-final line-up, dumping out Dimitri Van den Bergh, Daryl Gurney and James Wade in just his second Players Championship appearance.
Players Championship 12 Results
Tuesday April 28
First Round
Sebastian Bialecki 6-3 Tytus Kanik
Cristo Reyes 6-4 Oskar Lukasiak
Wessel Nijman 6-2 Scott Williams
Tom Sykes 6-5 Cam Crabtree
Ryan Searle 6-4 Ricardo Pietreczko
Maximilian Czerwinski 6-3 Peter Wright
Josh Rock 6-5 Jeffrey De Graaf
Rob Owen 6-3 Viktor Tingstrom
Cameron Menzies 6-5 Rhys Griffin
Justin Hood 6-0 Tyler Thorpe
James Wade 6-1 Jack Tweddell
Charlie Manby 6-1 Stefaan Henderyck
Daryl Gurney 6-5 Shane McGuirk
Darius Labanauskas 6-0 Dennie Olde Kalter
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-2 Gian van Veen
Nathan Potter 6-5 Arno Merk
Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Tavis Dudeney
Cor Dekker 6-4 Adam Lipscombe
Ross Smith 6-0 Owen Bates
Tom Bissell 6-0 Carl Sneyd
William O’Connor 6-2 Thomas Lovely
Stefan Bellmont 6-4 Adam Paxton
Damon Heta 6-4 Adam Gawlas
Beau Greaves 6-2 Tommy Morris
Karel Sedlacek 6-2 Kai Gotthardt
Darryl Pilgrim 6-4 Adam Warner
Danny Noppert 6-3 Ricky Evans
Benjamin Pratnemer 6-3 Adam Leek
Andrew Gilding 6-5 Mensur Suljovic
Brendan Dolan 6-1 Thibault Tricole
Niko Springer 6-1 Marvin Kraft
Max Hopp 6-5 Stephen Rosney
Christian Kist 6-5 Rob Cross
Jurjen van der Velde 6-5 James Hurrell
Chris Dobey 6-3 Aden Kirk
Madars Razma 6-4 Wesley Plaisier
Andy Boulton 6-5 Martin Schindler
Alan Soutar 6-3 Jim Long
Martin Lukeman 6-5 Niels Zonneveld
Chris Landman 6-1 Derek Coulson
Richard Veenstra 6-1 Ryan Joyce
Joe Hunt 6-3 Niall Culleton
Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Martijn Dragt
Sietse Lap 6-1 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Nick Kenny 6-5 Joe Cullen
Marvin van Velzen 6-1 Matthias Ehlers
Luke Woodhouse 6-1 Dominik Gruellich
Tommy Lishman 6-3 David Sharp
Mike De Decker 6-3 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-4 Ritchie Edhouse
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Stephen Burton
Samuel Price 6-5 Leon Weber
Kevin Doets 6-2 Gabriel Clemens
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-4 Mickey Mansell
Jimmy van Schie 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 6-4 Ian White
Lukas Wenig 6-5 Dave Chisnall
Ryan Meikle 6-2 Greg Ritchie
Keane Barry 6-5 Luke Humphries
Alexander Merkx 6-3 Callan Rydz
Gary Anderson 6-2 Yorick Hofkens
Bradley Brooks 6-5 Connor Scutt
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-1 Raymond van Barneveld
Mervyn King 6-3 Filip Bereza
Second Round
Sebastian Bialecki 6-1 Cristo Reyes
Wessel Nijman 6-5 Tom Sykes
Ryan Searle 6-4 Maximilian Czerwinski
Rob Owen 6-1 Josh Rock
Justin Hood 6-1 Cameron Menzies
James Wade 6-5 Charlie Manby
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Darius Labanauskas
Nathan Potter 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Cor Dekker 6-5 Kim Huybrechts
Tom Bissell 6-3 Ross Smith
Stefan Bellmont 6-4 William O’Connor
Beau Greaves 6-5 Damon Heta
Darryl Pilgrim 6-3 Karel Sedlacek
Danny Noppert 6-3 Benjamin Pratnemer
Brendan Dolan 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Max Hopp 6-2 Niko Springer
Jurjen van der Velde 6-3 Christian Kist
Chris Dobey 6-2 Madars Razma
Andy Boulton 6-1 Alan Soutar
Chris Landman 6-5 Martin Lukeman
Joe Hunt 6-5 Richard Veenstra
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Sietse Lap
Marvin van Velzen 6-5 Nick Kenny
Tommy Lishman 6-4 Luke Woodhouse
Mike De Decker 6-1 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Samuel Price
Kevin Doets 6-3 Maik Kuivenhoven
Jimmy van Schie 6-3 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Ryan Meikle 6-4 Lukas Wenig
Alexander Merkx 6-5 Keane Barry
Gary Anderson 6-0 Bradley Brooks
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Mervyn King
Last 32
Wessel Nijman 6-3 Sebastian Bialecki
Ryan Searle 6-1 Rob Owen
James Wade 6-2 Justin Hood
Nathan Potter 6-5 Daryl Gurney
Tom Bissell 6-3 Cor Dekker
Beau Greaves 6-3 Stefan Bellmont
Darryl Pilgrim 6-5 Danny Noppert
Max Hopp 6-3 Brendan Dolan
Chris Dobey 6-3 Jurjen van der Velde
Chris Landman 6-2 Andy Boulton
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Joe Hunt
Tommy Lishman 6-5 Marvin van Velzen
Mike De Decker 6-3 Stephen Bunting
Kevin Doets 6-3 Jimmy van Schie
Alexander Merkx 6-3 Ryan Meikle
Gary Anderson 6-5 Krzysztof Ratajski
Last 16
Wessel Nijman 6-3 Ryan Searle
Nathan Potter 6-2 James Wade
Tom Bissell 6-0 Beau Greaves
Max Hopp 6-5 Darryl Pilgrim
Chris Dobey 6-1 Chris Landman
Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Tommy Lishman
Kevin Doets 6-5 Mike De Decker
Gary Anderson 6-3 Alexander Merkx
Quarter-Finals
Wessel Nijman 6-2 Nathan Potter
Tom Bissell 6-3 Max Hopp
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Chris Dobey
Kevin Doets 6-1 Gary Anderson
Semi-Finals
Wessel Nijman 7-4 Tom Bissell
Jermaine Wattimena 7-3 Kevin Doets
Final
Wessel Nijman 8-5 Jermaine Wattimena
