Wessel Nijman (born 26 June 2000) is a Dutch professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is ranked world number nineteen. He has won six PDC ranking titles, including the 2026 European Darts Trophy.
Following a match-fixing scandal in 2020 that saw him banned from the sport for two-and-a-half years, Nijman returned to competitive darts in 2023. He finished third on the 2023 PDC Development Tour ranking, which led to him making his PDC World Championship debut at the 2024 edition, as well as earning a PDC Tour Card. He has since won five Players Championships and one European Tour.
In his youth career, Nijman found success in the PDC's youth system, winning twelve PDC Development Tours, topping the 2024 Development Tour rankings, and reaching the semi-finals at the 2023 PDC World Youth Championship.
Nijman reached the final of the 2017 WDF World Youth Cup's boys singles event, defeating Ireland's Keane Barry and Iran's Amirali-Mirzaei Goodarzi on his way. He lost 6âÂÂ3 in legs to compatriot Justin van Tergouw in the final, who he partnered with to win the boys pairs event. In 2018, at the age of 17, he won his first PDC Development Tour title in the second event of the year by defeating Bradley Brooks 5âÂÂ4 in the final.
Nijman was able to qualify for the 2019 Czech Darts Open in Prague as an Associate Member qualifier, but was beaten 6âÂÂ0 by Corey Cadby in the first round. He also qualified for the 2019 Gibraltar Darts Trophy, where he won 6âÂÂ5 against Darren Webster before losing to Mensur SuljoviÃÂ. Nijman also won the fourth Development Tour event in 2020.
In 2020, the International Betting Integrity Association and the Darts Regulation Authority were alerted to suspicious betting patterns on matches in April and May during the Modus Live League, an online darts tournament series held amid the COVID-19 pandemic, in which Nijman was involved. He was suspended from attending or participating in events sanctioned by the Darts Regulation Authority in August 2020 after admitting to match-fixing, which he called a "stupid mistake". A hearing by the Darts Regulation Authority's Disciplinary Committee took place in October, where Nijman's deliberate 4âÂÂ0 loss to David Evans on 14 May resulted in him being banned from the sport for five years, with two and a half years of that ban being suspended after he took part in player education and anti-corruption measures. He was also ordered to pay ã2,455.74. Nijman accepted the ruling, stating that although he was put under pressure by others to lose the match, he took full responsibility for his actions. His ban ended on 18 February 2023.
Nijman featured in an education film released by the Professional Players Federation and the Professional Darts Players Association in June 2022, where he gave his personal testimony and discussed the repercussions of partaking in match-fixing.
Nijman returned to competitive darts in 2023. In March, he won a national title in the Netherlands at the Rivierenland Open in Wijchen. He competed in the 2023 PDC Development Tour series, winning three titles in events 6, 12 and 19. He qualified for the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship by placing third on the 2023 Development Tour Order of Merit. His ranking also secured him a two-year PDC Tour Card for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
Nijman reached the semi-finals at the 2023 PDC World Youth Championship, defeating Nathan Rafferty and Owen Bates before losing 6âÂÂ5 to Gian van Veen. On 19 December, Nijman made his World Championship debut, but he lost to Steve Beaton 3âÂÂ1 in sets.
In his full debut year on the PDC Pro Tour, Nijman qualified for four European Tours. At the sixth European Tour event of the year, the Baltic Sea Darts Open in May, he achieved a shock 6âÂÂ3 victory over Luke Littler, before losing to Michael van Gerwen 6âÂÂ2 in the second round.
Nijman topped the 2024 PDC Development Tour series Order of Merit, which qualified him for the 2024 Grand Slam of Darts. He won seven titles over the course of 24 events, including a pair of back-to-back titles: he won events 16 and 17 in July, followed by events 21 and 22 in October.
On 1 October, Nijman won his first senior PDC title at Players Championship 24, defeating Stephen Bunting 8âÂÂ5 in the final. Later that month, he competed at the Grand Slam and despite good performances, he finished bottom of his group after losses to Bunting, Josh Rock and Gian van Veen.
Nijman entered the 2025 World Championship with high expectations, becoming as high as sixth favourite to win the tournament by bookmakers due to his good form in 2024. He narrowly defeated South African qualifier Cameron Carolissen 3âÂÂ2 in the first round. He was eliminated in the second round following a 3âÂÂ0 loss to Joe Cullen. Nijman qualified for the World Matchplay for the first time and defeated former champion Nathan Aspinall 10âÂÂ6 in the first round. He lost 11âÂÂ5 to James Wade in the second round. On the 2025 PDC Pro Tour, Nijman reached back-to-back European Tour semi-finals at the Dutch Darts Championship and the European Darts Open. He was a two-time winner in Players Championship events as he earned his second and third PDC ranking titles. He won Players Championship 30 by defeating Damon Heta 8âÂÂ3 in the final, followed by an 8âÂÂ5 victory over Luke Woodhouse in the final of Players Championship 34.
At the 2026 World Championship, Nijman, the 31st seed, defeated Karel SedláÃÂek 3âÂÂ0 in the first round. He was eliminated from the tournament following a 3âÂÂ0 loss to Gabriel Clemens in the second round. Nijman claimed his fourth PDC ranking title at Players Championship 2, defeating Gerwyn Price 8âÂÂ7 in the final. At the European Darts Trophy, Nijman reached his first European Tour final following wins over Gian van Veen, Josh Rock and Niels Zonneveld. In a rematch against Price, he secured his first European Tour title by winning 8âÂÂ3.
Nijman grew up on the same street as fellow darts player Niels Zonneveld in Uitgeest. He is a supporter of Dutch football club AZ Alkmaar.
Wessel Nijman's performance timeline is as follows:
PDC European Tour
PDC Players Championships