Wessel Nijman beats Stephen Bunting 8-5 to win the first Players Championship title

Dutchman Wessel Nijman claimed his first Players Championship title after an 8-5 win over Stephen Bunting on the first of three matchdays in Wigan.

The 24-year-old is back on tour after serving a ban for breaching gambling and anti-corruption rules.

In October 2020 he was handed a five-year ban, but half of the ban was suspended and he returned to the sport in early 2023 and is now in his first full year on the ProTour.

On his way to Tuesday’s final he defeated Mervyn King, Ryan Searle, Krzysztof Ratajski and Jose de Sousa, before winning 7-6 over the in-form Gary Anderson.

The Scot, a two-time PDC world champion, hit a nine-dart finish in his second-round win over Jamie Hughes and also defeated current world champion Luke Humphries in the last eight.

Bunting, the reigning Masters champion, edged Luke Littler 7-6 in the semi-finals and led 2-0 in the final before Nijman won the next five legs to take control.

“It’s always difficult to play a ProTour final, but I knew I could win,” said Nijman.

“At the beginning of the year I had an average of 100, but I felt like I was unlucky and lost some matches.

“But I was patient and started talking about it and throwing those match darts.

“My goal was to get into the top 64 after two years on the Tour, but it looks like I will achieve that this year.”