Wessel Nijman has shot up to 20th in the world following his triumph at the Elten Safety Shoets European Darts Trophy in Goettingen. Nijman scooped his maiden European Tour title at the weekend in sublime fashion, recording a tournament average in excess of 102, which propelled the Dutch star up four spots in the world […]
Wessel Nijman has shot up to 20th in the world following his triumph at the Elten Safety Shoets European Darts Trophy in Goettingen.
Nijman scooped his maiden European Tour title at the weekend in sublime fashion, recording a tournament average in excess of 102, which propelled the Dutch star up four spots in the world rankings.
The 25-year-old began 2026 ranked 29th, but following a fourth Players Championship title at Event Two and the European Darts Trophy win – defeating Gerwyn Price in both finals – he has moved up to 20th in the PDC Werner Rankings Ladder.
Nijman scooped the £35,000 top prize in Goettingen for his success – the highest payday of his career to date – overtaking Rob Cross, Luke Woodhouse, Dave Chisnall and Daryl Gurney in earnings across the last 24 months.
Josh Rock and Price have both moved up one spot to seventh and eighth respectively at the expense of Stephen Bunting, who drops to ninth.
The Northern Irish World Cup winner reached the quarter-finals for the second consecutive European Tour, also reaching the semi-finals of the UK Open for a second year running, pocketing £35,000 as a result of his impressive run in Minehead.
Meanwhile, Price reached the final in Goettingen, following on from his run to the semi-finals in Minehead, where he fell short to James Wade, as the Welsh number two continues to make inroads after beginning the year 12th in the rankings.
Krzysztof Ratajski continued his stellar start to 2026 by reaching his first UK Open quarter-final for five years, breaking into the top 25 of the world once again.
The Polish number one saw off Ricky Evans, Oskar Lukasiak and World Championship semi-finalist Ryan Searle reach the last eight, pocketing a tidy £20,000 as a result.
Dutch trio Dirk van Duijvenbode, Kevin Doets and Niels Zonneveld all rose after impressive outings in Goettingen, with the latter reaching his maiden European Tour semi-final.
Zonneveld overcame the likes of Michael van Gerwen and Jermaine Wattimena to claim a £10,000 payday and move up to 39th, whilst Van Duijvenbode overtook Cameron Menzies to 28th after reaching the quarter-finals and Doets rose to 35th after his run to the last 16.
Niko Springer moved up two places to 51st in the world after making the last eight at the European Darts Trophy and pocketing £8,000.
The 25-year-old German – who burst onto the scene with victory at the Hungarian Darts Trophy last year – won a trio of last-leg deciders against Kai Gotthardt, Bunting and Ross Smith, only falling short in another deciding leg to Damon Heta.
The ProTour will continue to shake up the PDC Werner Rankings Ladder, as the European Tour returns to Wieze for the Lecot Belgian Darts Open from March 20-22.