Wessel Nijman romps to fifth Players Championship title of 2026
Wessel Nijman continued his imperious Players Championship form by claiming his fifth title of the year at Event 14 in Hildesheim on Tuesday.
Nijman hammered Max Hopp 8-1 in the final to scoop the £15,000 top prize for a fifth time in just 12 appearances on the ProTour in 2026, becoming the first player to win five Players Championship titles in one year since Michael van Gerwen a decade ago.
The Dutchman punished Hopp busting 61 to take the opening leg, before finishing 88 to double his advantage.
The 25-year-old then won another four legs straight to race 6-0 ahead, including an 84 outshot on the bullseye and a 140 checkout in legs five and six respectively.
Although Hopp broke in the seventh leg, it proved a mere consolation for the German, as Nijman broke back before sealing the title with a 15-darter.
“It’s always good to hold your best game for the final,” said Nijman, who produced his best performance of the day against Hopp with a 104.6 average.
“I’m just happy with the way I’m playing. I played well today, especially in the later stages of the tournament.
“I’m feeling pretty confident in these floor events, and I hope I can play like this on the floor for many more years.
“I don’t really care about records, I care more about the form that I’m playing right now. It’s always good to have those kinds of records in your bag, but it doesn’t give you much more than the form you’re in.
“I just want to be in the top 16 and make as many steps as close to number one as possible by the end of the year.”
The Dutchman kicked off the event with comfortable wins over Daniel Klose and Jurjen van der Velde, followed by a 6-3 win over Niall Culleton to reach the Last 16.
The 25-year-old faced his closest match of the day against Joe Cullen at this stage, triumphing 6-4 with a stellar 102 average – the first of four consecutive ton-plus averages before clinching the title.
Nijman then thumped Krzysztof Ratajski 6-1 with a 103 average, before thrashing Danny Noppert 7-2 to make it seven semi-final wins on the spin.
Hopp, meanwhile, entered the top ten of the 2026 Players Championship rankings after making his first final since 2019.
Following a walkover against Christian Kist, who was forced to withdraw mid-match through injury, the former World Youth Champion claimed a brace of 6-4 wins at the expense of Lewis Pride and then Damon Heta.
The 29-year-old kept his opponents at arm’s length throughout the day, defeating former World Champion Rob Cross 6-2 and Joe Hunt 6-3 to reach the last four.
There, Hopp dispatched an in-form Tom Bissell 7-3 to set-up a winner-takes-all clash against Nijman, but was denied his first title on the circuit since 2018 in emphatic fashion.
Bissell, meanwhile, took the scalps of number two seed Chris Dobey and Austrian stalwart Mensur Suljovic to reach his second Players Championship semi-final of the year.
Noppert reached the last four in impressive style, including two 6-2 victories with ton-plus averages over Dirk van Duijvenbode in the last 16 and then Richard Veenstra in the quarter-finals.
Veenstra struck perfection during his run to the quarter-final, landing a nine-darter against Leon Weber in the second round.
Heta’s 110.78 average against Jim Long proved the best performance of the day, while Cullen produced a 108.3 average in his 6-1 hammering of Adam Lipscombe in the Last 32.
Players Championship 14 Results
Tuesday May 5
First Round
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Florian Preis
Niall Culleton 6-3 Filip Bereza
Wessel Nijman 6-2 Daniel Klose
Jurjen van der Velde 6-4 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Adam Lipscombe 6-4 Andrew Gilding
Steve Lennon 6-5 Maximilian Czerwinski
Joe Cullen 6-5 Kai Gotthardt
Jimmy van Schie 6-2 Tommy Lishman
Cristo Reyes 6-1 Sebastian Bialecki
Marvin van Velzen 6-3 Benjamin Pratnemer
Jeffrey De Graaf 6-4 Kevin Doets
James Hurrell 6-1 Thomas Lovely
Michael Smith 6-4 Adam Leek
Darius Labanauskas 6-4 Jenson Walker
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-1 Stefan Bellmont
Madars Razma 6-1 Scott Williams
Mickey Mansell 6-5 Alan Soutar
Cor Dekker 6-4 Stephen Burton
Danny Noppert 6-0 Samuel Price
Marvin Kraft 6-5 Yorick Hofkens
Tom Sykes 6-1 Karel Sedlacek
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-5 Darryl Pilgrim
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Shane McGuirk
Justin Hood 6-5 Martin Lukeman
Richard Veenstra 6-3 Rhys Griffin
Leon Weber 6-2 Callum Goffin
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Viktor Tingstrom
Alexander Merkx 6-5 Charlie Manby
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-2 Kim Huybrechts
Martijn Dragt 6-5 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Oliver Mitchell 6-4 Niels Zonneveld
Ricky Evans 6-2 Cam Crabtree
Jeffrey de Zwaan w/o vs Ricardo Pietreczko
Adam Warner 6-0 Pero Ljubic
Chris Dobey 6-0 Danny Trueman
Tom Bissell 6-3 Nick Kenny
Sietse Lap 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Lukas Wenig 6-5 Dominik Gruellich
Martin Schindler 6-4 Peter Wright
Derek Coulson 6-1 Tytus Kanik
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 David Sharp
Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 Matthias Ehlers
Mensur Suljovic 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
Owen Bates 6-5 Nathan Potter
Arno Merk 6-4 Mike De Decker
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-3 Mervyn King
Connor Scutt 6-0 Niko Springer
Andy Boulton 6-3 Callan Rydz
Pascal Rupprecht 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Keane Barry 6-2 Stefaan Henderyck
Ian White 6-4 Ross Smith
Tyler Thorpe 6-2 Adam Gawlas
Gabriel Clemens 6-5 Ryan Joyce
Joe Hunt 6-3 Adam Paxton
William O’Connor 6-2 Stephen Rosney
Beau Greaves 6-2 Jack Tweddell
Rob Cross 6-2 Chris Landman
Ryan Meikle 6-4 Thibault Tricole
James Wade 6-2 Wesley Plaisier
Rob Owen 6-2 Tommy Morris
Lewis Pride 6-5 Gary Anderson
Max Hopp w/o vs Christian Kist
Damon Heta 6-2 Tavis Dudeney
Jim Long 6-3 Dennie Olde Kalter
Second Round
Niall Culleton 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Wessel Nijman 6-1 Jurjen van der Velde
Adam Lipscombe 6-5 Steve Lennon
Joe Cullen 6-2 Jimmy van Schie
Cristo Reyes 6-1 Marvin van Velzen
James Hurrell 6-0 Jeffrey De Graaf
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Madars Razma
Mickey Mansell 6-4 Cor Dekker
Danny Noppert 6-5 Marvin Kraft
Tom Sykes 6-3 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-5 Justin Hood
Richard Veenstra 6-4 Leon Weber
Alexander Merkx 6-2 Jermaine Wattimena
Martijn Dragt 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Oliver Mitchell 6-4 Ricky Evans
Adam Warner 6-4 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Tom Bissell 6-5 Chris Dobey
Lukas Wenig 6-4 Sietse Lap
Martin Schindler 6-4 Derek Coulson
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Ritchie Edhouse
Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Owen Bates
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-5 Arno Merk
Connor Scutt 6-3 Andy Boulton
Keane Barry 6-2 Pascal Rupprecht
Tyler Thorpe 6-4 Ian White
Joe Hunt 6-5 Gabriel Clemens
William O’Connor 6-4 Beau Greaves
Rob Cross 6-4 Ryan Meikle
James Wade 6-0 Rob Owen
Max Hopp 6-4 Lewis Pride
Damon Heta 6-1 Jim Long
Last 32
Wessel Nijman 6-3 Niall Culleton
Joe Cullen 6-1 Adam Lipscombe
James Hurrell 6-5 Cristo Reyes
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-0 Darius Labanauskas
Danny Noppert 6-5 Mickey Mansell
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Tom Sykes
Richard Veenstra 6-3 Alexander Merkx
Oliver Mitchell 6-5 Martijn Dragt
Tom Bissell 6-1 Adam Warner
Lukas Wenig 6-5 Martin Schindler
Mensur Suljovic 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-3 Connor Scutt
Keane Barry 6-2 Tyler Thorpe
Joe Hunt 6-2 William O’Connor
Rob Cross 6-3 James Wade
Max Hopp 6-4 Damon Heta
Last 16
Wessel Nijman 6-4 Joe Cullen
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-1 James Hurrell
Danny Noppert 6-2 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Richard Veenstra 6-1 Oliver Mitchell
Tom Bissell 6-1 Lukas Wenig
Mensur Suljovic 6-3 Maik Kuivenhoven
Joe Hunt 6-1 Keane Barry
Max Hopp 6-2 Rob Cross
Quarter-Finals
Wessel Nijman 6-1 Krzysztof Ratajski
Danny Noppert 6-2 Richard Veenstra
Tom Bissell 6-5 Mensur Suljovic
Max Hopp 6-3 Joe Hunt
Semi-Finals
Wessel Nijman 7-2 Danny Noppert
Max Hopp 7-3 Tom Bissell
Final
Wessel Nijman 8-1 Max Hopp
