Nijman Nerveless in Stopping Rampant Price to Seal Players Championship 2

Wessel Nijman claimed his fourth Players Championship title on Tuesday, edging out a sensational Gerwyn Price 8-7 in a breathtaking final that will live long in the memory.

The Dutchman is now a three-time winner in the last seven Players Championship events and fourth title overall since earning his PDC Tour Card in January 2024. He underlined his status as one of the sport’s premier floor players.

Nijman averaged 99.30 across the tournament and pinned 21 maximums throughout the day. In the final, he averaged 102.30 to defy a rampant Price in one of the highest-quality floor contests seen in recent memory.

While the plaudits rightly belong with Nijman for sealing victory, it cannot be overstated just how impressive The Iceman was in producing one of the most extraordinary single-day performances in Players Championship history.

Wessel Nijman celebrating during the 2026 PDC World Championship (Photo by: PDC)

Price Produces Historic Numbers

Gerwyn Price averaged an astonishing 105.69 across the entire tournament, the third-highest tournament average recorded in a Players Championship event.

It underlines just how unfortunate the Welshman was to leave Hildesheim without the title.

He landed 24 maximums throughout the day and remarkably produced three of the four highest averages of the event.

In the Last 16, Price fired in the highest average of the ProTour season so far of 111.14 to defeat Luke Woodhouse 6-4.

However, just 38 minutes later, he went one better.

For the first time in his career, the former World No.1 and World Champion whitewashed Michael van Gerwen 6-0 in just nine minutes. He did so with a mesmeric 117.12 average that will go down as one of the finest floor performances of his career. After four legs, he was averaging 125.25 and had raced into a 4-0 lead, hovering on the brink of record-breaking territory.

Even in defeat, Price averaged 107.41 in the final, a performance that would have won the vast majority of ProTour finals. Instead, he was denied by a ruthless Nijman in a last-leg decider.

Add to that the Welshman’s three semi-final runs in the last four televised majors, and it is becoming increasingly clear that Price is operating at a level that makes him one of the most serious threats to the sport’s dominant player, Luke Littler. If he continues to produce this standard, a return to the majors enclosure surely feels inevitable.

Nijman the Floor Phenom

While Price’s numbers were historic, Nijman’s achievement should not be overshadowed, as after all, he walked away with the £15,000 top prize.

The 25-year-old's floor pedigree continues to grow at an impressive rate. Today’s triumph marks his third Players Championship title in the last seven events and his fourth overall since the start of 2024 as a PDC Tour Card holder.

Last season, the Dutchman finished runner-up to Price in the Players Championship Order of Merit after a superbly consistent campaign.

After two events, he tops the standings, and not many would bet against him topping that list this year, especially with Price and several other Premier League stars unlikely to feature regularly in these events.

He began his day with three convincing victories, dropping just five legs en route to defeating Viktor Tingström, Samuel Price and Cor Dekker.

He then defeated Tommy Morris 6-4 in the Last 16 before halting new Tour Card holder Carl Sneyd’s best-ever run in these events with a 6-2 quarter-final victory, producing his highest average of the day at 106.03.

After dropping the opening two legs against Ryan Searle in his semi-final, he responded by winning seven consecutive legs to seal a commanding victory and set up the decider with Price.

Incredibly, he held his nerve in a deciding leg on-throw, landing a 12-darter to seal victory against a red-hot Price in the final.

Without doubt, the Dutchman is currently one of, if not the best floor players in world darts.

The lingering question remains however, with a player of such ability, can he translate it to the televised major stage?

He has yet to progress beyond the second round of any standard PDC major event, and his UK Open campaign in 2025 ended at the first hurdle despite entering at the third-round stage.

If the Uitgeest thrower can reproduce anywhere near his floor level on the big stage, there is no doubt he is capable of going onto achieve big things in this sport.

Perfection Found and Other Notable Stories

Elsewhere, Players Championship 2 provided plenty of further talking points.

Former World Championship semi-finalist Gabriel Clemens produced a nine-darter in his 6-3 victory over Madars Razma in the Last 32. The German averaged a superb 108.18 in a performance that rolled back the years.

Also striking perfection was James Hurrell. Hillbilly found the perfect leg in a 6-5 victory over Maik Kuivenhoven in Round 1.

Meanwhile, legendary Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld endured another tough outing, recording his lowest-ever average on the PDC ProTour of 69.39 in a crushing 6-1 defeat to Owen Bates in Round 2.

There were also early exits for several other high-profile names. Gian van Veen lost out in Round 1 to Madars Razma 6-4, while yesterday’s finalist Nathan Aspinall fell to the same scoreline against Irishman Niall Culleton.

Peter Wright also exited at the first-round stage again, falling 6-5 with another sub-90 average to Tom Sykes.

Dimitri van den Bergh, who showed signs of encouragement on Monday with his first ton-plus average in 364 days, suffered a worrying setback. The two-time PDC major champion was whitewashed by 2024 WDF World Champion Shane McGuirk in a flat display, averaging just 75.

Players Championship 1 winner James Wade exited at the Last 32 stage, falling 6-5 to Dave Chisnall in a below-par contest in which both averaged under 90.

Final Thoughts

Players Championship 2 will ultimately have two key talking points to reflect on. With Nijman’s rapid rise as one of the sport’s premier floor operators, and Gerwyn Price delivering one of the greatest single-day performances ever seen in PDC ProTour history.

With three event wins in the last seven of these events, Nijman’s triumphs reflect a player who has made the floor his domain.

But Price’s performance today was truly significant.

• 105.69 tournament average

• Three of the four highest averages in PC2

• A first-ever whitewash of MvG, averaging 117.12 in the process

If the three-time Grand Slam champion continues to operate at this level, it is not a matter of if major silverware comes for The Iceman, but when.

To finish on today’s winner, Nijman has now risen to 25th in the world rankings and is projected at 15th in the post-2027 World Championship rankings, all without any kind of significant run in a televised major.

If he can translate his ProTour dominance onto the big stage, the sport may soon have another genuine elite player from the Netherlands breaking into the world’s top 10 and capable of competing for the biggest honours.