Wessel Nijman is one of the most in-form darts players on the planet. He won the inaugural Slovak Darts Open to secure an eighth title in 2026, defeating Rob Cross 8-3 in the final with a 103.8 average. The victory earned him a second European Tour title, following his win over Gerwyn Price in the European Darts Trophy final, and a lucrative £35,000 in prize money. Nijman has now climbed to 14th in the world, a new career high, which has significant implications for the upcoming World Matchplay.
Vincent van der Voort analysed Nijman’s progress on the podcast Darts Drait Door, highlighting the importance of his ranking rise. “He is doing very well heading into the World Matchplay, because you don't want to go there ranked fifteenth or sixteenth,” van der Voort said. “Then you get Luke Littler or Luke Humphries in the second round, and you really don't want that.” Instead, as the 14th seed, Nijman would face world number three Gian van Veen in the same bracket. “Now, with his fourteenth place, he would face Gian van Veen, and he is out of form. So that is a very favourable entry point for him. You'd rather have Van Veen than a Luke. Often, when you play this well, these kinds of things tend to fall your way.”
Van der Voort believes Nijman would enter a match against van Veen as the favourite. “I don't think he's looking forward to that right now, even though he has a good record against him,” he said. “I also think Van Veen has other things on his mind.” The World Matchplay commences on 18 July, with the draw determined by seeding. The 16 ProTour Order of Merit qualifiers will face the seeds in the first round.
Nijman’s remarkable run includes defeating Benjamin Pratnemer, Stephen Bunting, Mike De Decker, and Ross Smith, after taking out 341 in six darts. He also won PC21 earlier in the week, beating Ryan Searle. Van der Voort and presenter Damian Vlottes discussed the potential for Nijman to break into the top 10 by year-end and earn invitations to Premier League Darts and the World Series. “Things could suddenly move fast for him,” Vlottes assessed. Van der Voort added: “Certainly, and then you start thinking ahead again. About the Premier League Darts and the World Series, that he gets invited to those. Then you end up in a completely different position again. Then your status changes, people look at you differently, and everything changes again. And then we have to wait and see how he handles that.”
Van der Voort also marvelled at Nijman’s title tally: “Just look at who else has won eight tournaments in six months. There aren't many who can say that. I know that Littler isn't competing on the floor, and Littler didn't participate in the Euro Tours that Nijman won either. But there are still plenty of other good players left whom he does beat. He is doing something special, after all.”
