Nijman Secures Fourth Ranking Title of 2026 with Dominant Display

Wessel Nijman continued his impressive start to 2026 by claiming his fourth ranking title of the year at the Players Championship 10 in Wigan. Nijman defeated former Grand Slam of Darts champion Scott Waites 8-2 in the final to regain top spot in the Players Championship rankings. This victory came after Chris Dobey briefly overtook Nijman following his win at Players Championship Nine. Nijman responded strongly, starting with a hard-fought win against Martin Lukeman and then dispatching Monday's runner-up Justin Hood to advance to round three. He then averaged nearly 110 in a six-leg demolition of Adam Gawlas, followed by victories over Niels Zonneveld and Beau Greaves. Nijman averaged 109.71 to sweep aside Greaves in the quarterfinals and 108.46 in his semifinal against Luke Woodhouse. In the final, Nijman capitalized on Waites' slow start to establish an early lead, which set the tone for a dominant performance. Despite Waites narrowing the gap in leg three, Nijman regained control with a 12-darter to lead 3-1 and went on to win 8-2 with a 101.34 average. "Today was probably the best floor event I've played all year," Nijman admitted. "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." Nijman, who also won at Players Championships Two and Eight, is now targeting more silverware in the European Darts Grand Prix. "When I'm in that zone and playing good, I could play all day like that," he said. "The top 16 was the goal for the year. The earlier I get that, the better it is." Nijman climbs to 18th on the PDC Werner Rankings Ladder. Elsewhere, Beau Greaves made it back-to-back quarterfinals with impressive wins over Martin Schindler and Cameron Menzies. The last 16 results saw Nijman defeat Niels Zonneveld 6-3, while Greaves beat Cameron Menzies 6-4. In the quarterfinals, Nijman defeated Greaves 6-2, and in the semifinals, he beat Luke Woodhouse 7-4. The final results were Wessel Nijman 8-2 Scott Waites.