I just want to be in the top 16 and make as many steps as close to number one as possible
In the quiet industrial city of Hildesheim, a 25-year-old Dutchman named Wessel Nijman did something the sport of darts had not witnessed in a decade — winning a fifth Players Championship title within a single year, matching a record long held by the great Michael van Gerwen. It is the kind of milestone that arrives not with fanfare but with the steady accumulation of consistent excellence, week after week, on unforgiving stages. Nijman himself seems uninterested in the mythology of records, speaking instead of rankings and ambition — the language of someone who sees this not as a summit, but as a foothold.
- Nijman dismantled Max Hopp 8-1 in the final — a scoreline that left little room for debate about who is the form player on the circuit right now.
- The absence of Luke Littler and Luke Humphries, and the early exits of Van Gerwen and Gary Anderson, cast a shadow over the field — but they cannot diminish what Nijman has built across five separate events.
- Van Gerwen, the very man whose 2016 record Nijman just equaled, was knocked out in the third round by Mensur Suljovic, a quiet irony the sport will not soon forget.
- Nijman is publicly targeting a top-16 ranking and a push toward number one — ambitions that, given his current trajectory, no longer sound like wishful thinking.
- With 34 Players Championship events running through November, the circuit offers both opportunity and attrition — and Nijman has so far shown he can handle both.
Wessel Nijman left the stage in Hildesheim on Tuesday having matched something only Michael van Gerwen had achieved in the past decade. The 25-year-old Dutchman defeated Max Hopp 8-1 in the final of the 14th Players Championship of the year, claiming his fifth title in these tournaments and drawing level with Van Gerwen's celebrated 2016 record.
The victory carried extra weight given the context around it. Luke Littler and Luke Humphries, two of the sport's brightest names, were absent from the draw. Van Gerwen himself fell in the third round to Mensur Suljovic, while Gary Anderson — a two-time world champion — was eliminated in the first round. Nijman's dominance filled the vacuum without apology.
Asked about the record afterward, Nijman was characteristically grounded. He told the PDC website that records weren't his focus — consistent form was. His stated ambition is to break into the top 16 rankings and push as close to number one as possible before the year is out. From a player who has won five titles in five months, that ambition feels less like bravado and more like a plan.
The Players Championship circuit is a long road — 34 events before the November finals in Minehead, a test of nerve and endurance as much as skill. Van Gerwen's record stood untouched for ten years. Nijman has matched it with half the year still remaining, and the question now is simply how much further he intends to go.
Wessel Nijman walked off the stage in Hildesheim on Tuesday having done something only one other player has managed in a decade. The 25-year-old Dutch darts thrower had just dismantled Max Hopp 8-1 in the final of the 14th Players Championship event of the year, securing his fifth title in these tournaments and matching a record Michael van Gerwen set back in 2016.
It was a dominant performance, the kind that speaks to something deeper than a single tournament win. Nijman has been playing at a level that has caught the attention of the professional darts circuit, even as some of the sport's biggest names chose to sit this one out. Luke Littler and Luke Humphries, both among the elite, were absent from the draw. Van Gerwen himself, the man whose record Nijman had just equaled, fell in the third round to Austria's Mensur Suljovic, losing 6-4. Gary Anderson, a two-time world champion, couldn't even make it past the first round, falling 6-5 to Lewis Pride.
When asked about the milestone afterward, Nijman deflected with the kind of focus that suggests he means it. He told the PDC website he wasn't chasing records—what mattered to him was the form he was displaying week to week. His real target, he said, was simpler and more ambitious: he wanted to crack the top 16 in the rankings and climb as close to number one as he could manage before the year ended.
That kind of talk from a 25-year-old carrying five Players Championship titles in five months is worth taking seriously. The Players Championship circuit runs through the entire calendar year, with 34 separate events held before the finals converge in Minehead each November. It's a grueling schedule, a test of consistency and nerve. Nijman's performance so far suggests he has both in abundance.
The question now is whether this is a sustained peak or the beginning of something larger. Van Gerwen's 2016 record stood for a decade before anyone matched it. Nijman has matched it with half the year still ahead. Whether he adds to it, whether he can sustain this level of play through the autumn, whether he can translate this dominance into a ranking climb—those are the threads to watch as the circuit moves forward.
Citações Notáveis
I don't really care about records, I care more about the form that I'm playing right now. 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.— Wessel Nijman, to the PDC website
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Five Players Championship titles in one year—that's the same as Van Gerwen did in 2016. Why does that matter?
It's a marker of consistency in a sport where tournaments happen constantly. You're not winning one big event; you're winning repeatedly across a whole season. It suggests something structural about your game.
But Nijman said he doesn't care about records. Do you believe that?
I think he means it. When you're 25 and climbing toward the top 16, the record is almost a byproduct. What he's really after is the ranking points, the trajectory.
Some major players skipped this event. Does that diminish what he did?
It complicates it. You can't claim the same weight when Littler and Humphries aren't there. But Van Gerwen was there and lost early. That's real.
What's the actual test ahead for him?
Sustaining it. Five titles in five months is extraordinary. Can he keep that pace? Can he convert it into a top-16 finish? That's where the story gets interesting.