Wessel Nijman completes hat-trick of Players Championship titles in 2026
Wessel Nijman completed a hat-trick of Players Championship titles in 2026 by prevailing in Event 10 in Wigan on Tuesday with a crushing victory over Scott Waites in the final.
Nijman, who also claimed the European Darts Trophy title last month, thrashed a resurgent Waites 8-2 in the final at the Robin Park Sports Centre.
The 25-year-old, who scoops the £15,000 top prize, has now moved to within touching distance of a place in the world’s top 16 for the first time.
Following a hard-fought win against Martin Lukeman in his opener, Nijman dumped out Monday’s runner-up Justin Hood to book his place in the Last 32.
Having averaged almost 110 in a 6-0 whitewash of Adam Gawlas, Nijman followed up a 6-3 victory over his compatriot Niels Zonneveld with another merciless performance against Beau Greaves.
The Dutch star averaged 109.7 to sweep aside Greaves 6-2 in the quarter-finals, before averaging 108.5 in a 7-4 semi-final success against Luke Woodhouse.
Nijman was similarly imperious in the final, capitalising on a slow start from Waites to establish early daylight, which set the tone for another dominant display.
Despite Waites halving the deficit in leg three, Nijman regained control with a 12-darter to lead 3-1, sparking a five-leg sequence which saw him power into a 7-1 advantage.
Waites doubled his tally with a comfortable hold of throw in leg nine, but this merely proved to be a consolation, as Nijman retaliated with a 15-dart hold to triumph with a 101.3 average.
“Today was probably the best floor event I’ve played all year,” admitted Nijman, also a winner at Players Championship Two and Players Championship Eight.
“I hit so many averages above 105, it was a really good day.
“When I broke again to make it 4-1, it was a really good feeling through the rest of the match and it helped me in the final.
“I’m happy with the way I played in the final and the way I played all day. Maybe these kinds of events suit me.”
“When I’m in that zone and playing good, I could play all day like that.
“The top 16 was the goal for the year. The earlier I get that, the better it is.”
Waites – who received a late-call up for this week’s double-header courtesy of his position in the Challenge Tour rankings – rolled back the years in advancing to his maiden ProTour final.
The 2010 Grand Slam champion dumped out Damon Heta in round one, which he backed up with consecutive 6-1 routs of Tavis Dudeney and Joe Cullen.
Waites also accounted for Brendan Dolan and Kevin Doets respectively, before converting successive 116 and 121 finishes to defeat Karel Sedlacek in a high-quality semi-final.
Sedlacek’s run to the semi-finals saw him overhaul Andrew Gilding and move into the provisional qualification places for July’s World Matchplay in Blackpool.
Czechia’s number one defeated Max Hopp, Christian Kist and James Hurrell along the way, while also halting Dobey’s 11-match winning run in a dramatic quarter-final.
Woodhouse joined Sedlacek in the Last Four, defeating Darius Labanauskas, Mervyn King, Ryan Joyce, Scott Williams and Joe Hunt in advancing to his first ranking semi-final of 2026.
Challenge Tour star Hunt dumped out Premier League duo Stephen Bunting and Josh Rock to reach the quarter-finals, having earlier kicked off his campaign with victory over Belgian number one Mike De Decker.
Meanwhile, Greaves made it back-to-back quarter-finals following another impressive showing, featuring wins over Martin Schindler and Cameron Menzies.
In-form Doets registered a hat-trick of ton-plus averages during his run to the quarter-finals – including a 107.4 average in his whitewash of Gabriel Clemens – which was preceded by wins over darting stalwarts Peter Wright and James Wade.
Monday’s champion Dobey completed the quarter-final line-up, producing his performance of the day in his third round victory against Dutch icon Raymond van Barneveld, averaging 105 in the process.
Players Championship 10 Results
Tuesday April 14
First Round
Adam Gawlas 6-5 Rob Cross
Jeffrey de Graaf 6-3 Cor Dekker
Wessel Nijman 6-4 Martin Lukeman
Justin Hood 6-2 Aden Kirk
Arno Merk 6-0 Niko Springer
Callan Rydz 6-3 Keane Barry
Niels Zonneveld 6-5 Greg Ritchie
Dominik Gruellich 6-3 Thomas Lovely
Cameron Menzies 6-2 Viktor Tingstrom
Marvin van Velzen 6-4 Tytus Kanik
Jermaine Wattimena 6-1 Martijn Dragt
Adam Lipscombe 6-1 Matthias Ehlers
Richard Veenstra 6-5 Dave Chisnall
Owen Bates 6-2 Tom Bissell
Beau Greaves 6-5 Martin Schindler
Dennie Olde Kalter 6-1 Adam Warner
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-0 Mensur Suljovic
Scott Williams 6-2 Sietse Lap
Ross Smith 6-0 Rhys Griffin
Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-3 Andy Boulton
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Carl Sneyd
Darryl Pilgrim 6-4 Adam Leek
Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
Mervyn King 6-4 Chris Landman
Joe Hunt 6-2 Mike De Decker
Ted Evetts 6-3 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Florian Preis
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-3 Benjamin Pratnemer
William O’Connor 6-3 Tyler Thorpe
Jack Aldridge 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Josh Rock 6-4 Adam Paxton
Jack Tweddell 6-5 Samuel Price
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Maximilian Czerwinski
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-1 Yorick Hofkens
Chris Dobey 6-2 Thibault Tricole
Nick Kenny 6-4 Cristo Reyes
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Tommy Lishman
Daniel Klose 6-5 Mickey Mansell
Charlie Manby 6-5 Krzysztof Ratajski
Filip Bereza 6-4 Connor Scutt
Karel Sedlacek 6-4 Ryan Meikle
Max Hopp 6-3 Tom Sykes
Christian Kist 6-4 Luke Humphries
Madars Razma 6-3 Ian White
Jimmy van Schie 6-3 Andrew Gilding
Shane McGuirk 6-3 Bradley Brooks
James Hurrell 6-2 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Stephen Burton 6-0 Tommy Morris
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Stephen Rosney
Steve Lennon 6-5 Alan Soutar
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Ricky Evans
Brendan Dolan 6-2 Sebastian Bialecki
Joe Cullen 6-2 Rob Owen
Cam Crabtree 6-2 Marvin Kraft
Scott Waites 6-2 Damon Heta
Tavis Dudeney 6-5 Ritchie Edhouse
David Sharp 6-2 Michael Smith
Alexander Merkx 6-1 Jim Long
Wesley Plaisier 6-3 Danny Noppert
Gabriel Clemens 6-0 Niall Culleton
Kevin Doets 6-3 Jurjen van der Velde
Peter Wright 6-5 Stefan Bellmont
James Wade 6-3 Leon Weber
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-3 Lukas Wenig
Second Round
Adam Gawlas 6-5 Jeffrey de Graaf
Wessel Nijman 6-2 Justin Hood
Callan Rydz 6-3 Arno Merk
Niels Zonneveld 6-1 Dominik Gruellich
Cameron Menzies 6-3 Marvin van Velzen
Adam Lipscombe 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Owen Bates 6-5 Richard Veenstra
Beau Greaves 6-4 Dennie Olde Kalter
Scott Williams 6-1 Ricardo Pietreczko
Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-5 Ross Smith
Ryan Joyce 6-2 Darryl Pilgrim
Luke Woodhouse 6-1 Mervyn King
Joe Hunt 6-4 Ted Evetts
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Jack Aldridge 6-2 William O’Connor
Josh Rock 6-2 Jack Tweddell
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Maik Kuivenhoven
Chris Dobey 6-4 Nick Kenny
Daniel Klose 6-5 Daryl Gurney
Charlie Manby 6-3 Filip Bereza
Karel Sedlacek 6-4 Max Hopp
Christian Kist 6-2 Madars Razma
Shane McGuirk 6-3 Jimmy van Schie
James Hurrell 6-3 Stephen Burton
Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Steve Lennon
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Jonny Clayton
Joe Cullen 6-5 Cam Crabtree
Scott Waites 6-1 Tavis Dudeney
David Sharp 6-5 Alexander Merkx
Gabriel Clemens 6-0 Wesley Plaisier
Kevin Doets 6-4 Peter Wright
James Wade 6-5 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Last 32
Wessel Nijman 6-0 Adam Gawlas
Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Callan Rydz
Cameron Menzies 6-4 Adam Lipscombe
Beau Greaves 6-5 Owen Bates
Scott Williams 6-3 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Ryan Joyce
Joe Hunt 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Josh Rock 6-3 Jack Aldridge
Chris Dobey 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Daniel Klose 6-5 Charlie Manby
Karel Sedlacek 6-3 Christian Kist
James Hurrell 6-1 Shane McGuirk
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Kim Huybrechts
Scott Waites 6-1 Joe Cullen
Gabriel Clemens 6-5 David Sharp
Kevin Doets 6-5 James Wade
Last 16
Wessel Nijman 6-3 Niels Zonneveld
Beau Greaves 6-4 Cameron Menzies
Luke Woodhouse 6-4 Scott Williams
Joe Hunt 6-5 Josh Rock
Chris Dobey 6-4 Daniel Klose
Karel Sedlacek 6-4 James Hurrell
Scott Waites 6-4 Brendan Dolan
Kevin Doets 6-0 Gabriel Clemens
Quarter-Finals
Wessel Nijman 6-2 Beau Greaves
Luke Woodhouse 6-4 Joe Hunt
Karel Sedlacek 6-5 Chris Dobey
Scott Waites 6-4 Kevin Doets
Semi-Finals
Wessel Nijman 7-4 Luke Woodhouse
Scott Waites 7-5 Karel Sedlacek
Final
Wessel Nijman 8-2 Scott Waites
