Wessel Nijman secures third ranking title of 2026 at Players Championship 8
Wessel Nijman stormed to a third ranking title of 2026 at Players Championship 8 in Leicester on Tuesday, defeating Joe Cullen 8-4 in the final.
The in-form Dutchman continued his sensational start to the year by becoming the first player to pick up multiple ProTour titles this season, cementing his place at the top of the Players Championship Order of Merit.
Nijman had claimed the Players Championship Two title before celebrating a maiden European Tour triumph in Goettingen earlier this month.
He has now reached three finals in just six Players Championship appearances in 2026, and his latest victory marks his fifth ranking title since last October.
“I’m living the dream life,” admitted Nijman. “This week was the first time I was the number one seed, so that was pretty special for me to be honest.
“With the way I’m playing, especially in the floor events, I’m feeling pretty confident and this helps a lot.
“I’m so just happy I played the way I did today.”
Nijman opened up with a first round rout of Dominik Gruellich, averaging 103.57 in a 6-1 victory before fending off a late fightback from Thomas Lovely to seal a 6-4 success.
Following a third round whitewash of Poland’s Tytus Kanik, Nijman then edged out an in-form Keane Barry to book his spot in the quarter-finals – where he launched a stunning fightback to deny Dave Chisnall.
The 25-year-old reeled off five consecutive legs from 4-1 down to advance with an average of 105, though he was forced to survive two match darts in his all-Dutch semi-final against Kevin Doets.
Nijman established command in the final with clinical 96 and 121 finishes to lead 4-2 and 5-3, yet Cullen continued to respond, landing a flurry of 180s to preserve his title hopes.
However, Cullen’s hopes evaporated when he squandered nine darts at doubles to cut the deficit in leg 11, and Nijman duly capitalised, moving 7-4 ahead before wrapping up proceedings with a 14-dart break of throw.
Despite falling short in his bid for a tenth Players Championship crown, Cullen put in his best showing of 2026 so far to pocket the £10,000 runner-up prize, landing eight maximums in the final.
His run to the final began with a 6-2 win over Samuel Price, before seeing off former World Champion Michael Smith 6-4 despite a second successive sub-90 average.
The former Masters champion then registered deciding-leg wins over Damon Heta and Tom Sykes, averaging 103 in the latter contest to reach the quarter-finals.
There, he ended the run of emerging star Charlie Manby with a 6-4 victory, before overcoming Polish number two Sebastian Bialecki 7-4 in the semi-finals.
Bialecki’s run to the Last Four featured resounding 6-2 wins over Kim Huybrechts and Daryl Gurney, while he also dispatched Germany’s Leon Weber 6-1 in the quarter-finals.
Doets won through deciding-leg shootouts against Jonny Clayton, Richard Veenstra and Chris Dobey to seal his spot in the semis, only to be denied a place in his first ranking final since September 2023.
Dobey was featuring in the quarter-finals for a second straight day alongside Manby, who claimed the scalps of Scottish icon Gary Anderson and Premier League star Stephen Bunting en route.
Weber dumped out former World Matchplay champions Peter Wright and Nathan Aspinall in reaching his first ranking quarter-final of 2026, while Chisnall completed the Last Eight line-up.
The six-time major finalist produced the performance of the day at the Mattioli Arena, averaging 111.72 in his 6-1 thrashing of Martin Schindler in the Last 32.
Schindler succumbed at the same stage as Dutch superstar Michael van Gerwen and Welsh number one Clayton, who were beaten by Mervyn King and Doets respectively.
Monday’s champion Ryan Searle suffered an opening round defeat at the hands of Christian Kist, while Gary Anderson and Rob Cross also crashed out at the same stage.
Players Championship 8 Results
Monday March 31
First Round
Tytus Kanik 6-2 Raymond van Barneveld
Arno Merk 6-4 Tyler Thorpe
Wessel Nijman 6-1 Dominik Gruellich
Thomas Lovely 6-3 Niall Culleton
Niko Springer 6-1 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Martijn Dragt 6-4 Tavis Dudeney
Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Alan Soutar
Keane Barry 6-5 Ryan Meikle
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Cor Dekker
Thibault Tricole 6-2 Nick Kenny
Steve Lennon 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena
Mervyn King 6-3 Adam Warner
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Carl Sneyd
Connor Scutt 6-5 Dennie Olde Kalter
Martin Schindler 6-2 David Sharp
Tommy Lishman 6-2 Max Hopp
Madars Razma 6-4 Karel Sedlacek
Shane McGuirk 6-2 Matthias Ehlers
Chris Dobey 6-1 Filip Bereza
Darius Labanauskas 6-0 Stefan Bellmont
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Kai Gotthardt
Wesley Plaisier 6-5 Scott Waites
James Wade 6-2 Tommy Morris
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Jeffrey De Graaf
Kevin Doets 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Darryl Pilgrim 6-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Rob Owen 6-4 Lukas Wenig
Gabriel Clemens 6-4 William O’Connor
Richard Veenstra 6-4 Joe Hunt
Luke Woodhouse 6-1 Martin Lukeman
Tom Bissell 6-5 Ritchie Edhouse
Jim Long 6-4 Ricardo Pietreczko
Greg Ritchie 6-5 Mensur Suljovic
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Owen Bates
Pascal Rupprecht 6-5 Cristo Reyes
Charlie Manby 6-2 Gary Anderson
Stephen Burton 6-2 Callan Rydz
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-3 Cameron Menzies
Yorick Hofkens 6-5 Rhys Griffin
Andrew Gilding 6-3 James Hurrell
Adam Lipscombe 6-5 Stephen Rosney
Danny Noppert 6-5 Beau Greaves
Tom Sykes 6-3 Alexander Merkx
Joe Cullen 6-2 Samuel Price
Michael Smith 6-2 Benjamin Pratnemer
Damon Heta 6-4 Derek Coulson
Mickey Mansell 6-0 Bradley Brooks
Ian White 6-5 Mike De Decker
Sebastian Bialecki 6-1 Marvin van Velzen
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-3 Ross Smith
Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Stefaan Henderyck
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Scott Williams
Cam Crabtree 6-1 Jack Tweddell
Christian Kist 6-3 Ryan Searle
Adam Paxton 6-2 Jimmy van Schie
Peter Wright 6-5 Viktor Tingstrom
Leon Weber 6-3 Oskar Lukasiak
Nathan Aspinall 6-5 Chris Landman
Adam Gawlas 6-3 Adam Leek
Jurjen van der Velde 6-2 Ryan Joyce
Sietse Lap 6-4 Rob Cross
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Marvin Kraft
Andy Boulton 6-5 Ricky Evans
Second Round
Tytus Kanik 6-5 Arno Merk
Wessel Nijman 6-4 Thomas Lovely
Niko Springer 6-1 Martijn Dragt
Keane Barry 6-5 Niels Zonneveld
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Thibault Tricole
Mervyn King 6-3 Steve Lennon
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Connor Scutt
Martin Schindler 6-3 Tommy Lishman
Madars Razma 6-1 Shane McGuirk
Chris Dobey 6-2 Darius Labanauskas
Wesley Plaisier 6-5 Krzysztof Ratajski
James Wade 6-3 Brendan Dolan
Kevin Doets 6-1 Darryl Pilgrim
Jonny Clayton 6-1 Rob Owen
Richard Veenstra 6-5 Gabriel Clemens
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Tom Bissell
Jim Long 6-4 Greg Ritchie
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Pascal Rupprecht
Charlie Manby 6-4 Stephen Burton
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-1 Yorick Hofkens
Andrew Gilding 6-2 Adam Lipscombe
Tom Sykes 6-4 Danny Noppert
Joe Cullen 6-4 Michael Smith
Damon Heta 6-2 Mickey Mansell
Sebastian Bialecki 6-4 Ian White
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Cam Crabtree
Christian Kist 6-4 Adam Paxton
Leon Weber 6-1 Peter Wright
Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Adam Gawlas
Sietse Lap 6-5 Jurjen van der Velde
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1 Andy Boulton
Last 32
Wessel Nijman 6-0 Tytus Kanik
Keane Barry 6-4 Niko Springer
Mervyn King 6-2 Michael van Gerwen
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Martin Schindler
Chris Dobey 6-3 Madars Razma
Wesley Plaisier 6-4 James Wade
Kevin Doets 6-5 Jonny Clayton
Richard Veenstra 6-2 Luke Woodhouse
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Jim Long
Charlie Manby 6-1 Maik Kuivenhoven
Tom Sykes 6-2 Andrew Gilding
Joe Cullen 6-5 Damon Heta
Sebastian Bialecki 6-2 Kim Huybrechts
Daryl Gurney 6-1 Christian Kist
Leon Weber 6-3 Nathan Aspinall
Sietse Lap 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Last 16
Wessel Nijman 6-5 Keane Barry
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Mervyn King
Chris Dobey 6-1 Wesley Plaisier
Kevin Doets 6-5 Richard Veenstra
Charlie Manby 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Joe Cullen 6-5 Tom Sykes
Sebastian Bialecki 6-2 Daryl Gurney
Leon Weber 6-3 Sietse Lap
Quarter-Finals
Wessel Nijman 6-4 Dave Chisnall
Kevin Doets 6-5 Chris Dobey
Joe Cullen 6-4 Charlie Manby
Sebastian Bialecki 6-1 Leon Weber
Semi-Finals
Wessel Nijman 7-6 Kevin Doets
Joe Cullen 7-4 Sebastian Bialecki
Final
Wessel Nijman 8-4 Joe Cullen
