Wessel Nijman maintained his remarkable record against Ryan Searle to clinch an extraordinary sixth Players Championship title of the season last night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Dutch superstar recorded an eighth consecutive victory over Searle to capture the Players Championship 21 crown \u2013 the tenth PDC ranking title of his fledgling career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nijman has been a revelation in 2026, and he continued his sparkling ProTour form in Wigan, recording seven straight wins to extend his lead at the Players Championship summit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following victories over Stephen Burton, Darryl Pilgrim, Adam Gawlas and Kai Gotthardt, Nijman powered in a ton-plus average to sweep aside Kevin Doets in an all-Dutch quarter-final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The European Darts Trophy champion then overcame the brilliant Beau Greaves in the semi-finals, following up 127 and 101 checkouts with legs of 11 and 15 darts to seal a 7-4 success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This set up a tantalising showdown against Searle in Tuesday\u2019s showpiece, where six of the opening eight legs were won against throw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nijman then punished three missed doubles from Searle in the penultimate leg to edge 7-6 ahead, before wrapping up victory with a 14-darter, after the Somerset star had wired the bull for a 161 skin-saver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 25-year-old subsequently becomes the first player in 14 years to win six Players Championship titles in a calendar year \u2013 a feat previously achieved by his compatriot Michael van Gerwen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nijman also becomes the sixth player to win seven ProTour titles in one season, joining the decorated quintet of Phil Taylor, Raymond van Barneveld, Gary Anderson, Van Gerwen and Peter Wright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s never getting boring, I\u2019ll tell you that,\u201d reflected Nijman, who leapfrogs Nathan Aspinall on the PDC Rankings Ladder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was in this tournament without any expectations to be honest because I haven\u2019t thrown a single dart in ten days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI went on holiday with my girlfriend in Greece\u2026 I think I might need to go to Greece more often now!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m very pleased with the way I\u2019m playing right now and the titles I\u2019ve won. I think it\u2019s probably not normal the amount of titles I\u2019ve won this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking ahead to all of the next tournaments. I\u2019m going into these TV events differently to last time. I\u2019m getting more experience and that can make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite missing out on a second ranking title of the campaign, Searle put in another impressive showing at the Robin Park Leisure Centre, which began with a whitewash win against Derek Coulson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 38-year-old then saw off Irish duo Niall Culleton and Keane Barry, before averaging north of 101 in a deciding-leg victory against Sweden\u2019s premier player Jeffrey de Graaf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The World Championship semi-finalist continued his charge by claiming the scalps of Premier League stars Stephen Bunting and Jonny Clayton, earning him \u00a310,000 in prize money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Welsh number one Clayton registered a hat-trick of ton-plus averages in his run to the last four, where he was joined by Players Championship 11 winner Greaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two-time Women\u2019s World Matchplay champion accounted for a quartet of PDC title winners across the afternoon, dumping out Ryan Joyce, Ian White, Luke Woodhouse and Chris Dobey respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Greaves averaged almost 106 to prevail in an enthralling contest against Dobey, who completed the quarter-final line-up alongside Bunting, Doets and Dirk van Duijvenbode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following Tuesday\u2019s action, this week\u2019s ProTour double-header concludes with Players Championship 22 on Wednesday, as many of the sport\u2019s biggest names go head-to-head in Wigan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RESULTS Quarter-Finals<\/strong> Semi-Finals<\/strong> Final<\/strong> Wessel Nijman maintained his remarkable record against Ryan Searle to clinch an extraordinary sixth Players Championship title of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-13888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
Last 16
<\/strong>Wessel Nijman 6-3 Kai Gotthardt
Kevin Doets 6-1 Tommy Lishman
Chris Dobey 6-5 Niels Zonneveld
Beau Greaves 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Ross Smith
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Karel Sedlacek
Ryan Searle 6-5 Jeffrey de Graaf
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Callan Rydz<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wessel Nijman 6-1 Kevin Doets
Beau Greaves 6-4 Chris Dobey
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Ryan Searle 6-3 Stephen Bunting<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wessel Nijman 7-4 Beau Greaves
Ryan Searle 7-5 Jonny Clayton<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wessel Nijman 8-6 Ryan Searle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"