A player in fine form, and even perhaps an outsider for the title by some, Wessel Nijman entered the PDC World Championship off the back of a very positive year, having won a total of seven PDC Development Tour titles, as well as his first senior PDC title:
In his preliminary round, Wessel narrowly defeated fan-favourite Cameron Carolissen, in a game that went right to the wire! A comfortable first set, which included a stunning 139 checkout in the opening leg, saw Wessel race into the lead, before, despite a Carolissen fight-back, doubling his lead shortly after.
Perhaps against the run of play, Nijman suffered a whitewash third set, before a lower quality fourth set went the way of the South African, and the game went to a deciding set.
Digging deep, Nijman broke throw in the deciding leg to progress to the second round, setting up a clash with 23rd seed, Joe Cullen – a match that on paper, looked tough to call.
A stellar first set from Cullen, coupled with nervy darts on Nijman’s part, saw the Englishman get the first set on the board with minimal resistance.
While it was a much improved second set from Nijman, averaging just shy of 101, missed set darts ended up costing him, and Cullen punished, taking advantage to lead two sets to nil.
Despite this time averaging over six points higher than his opponent, Weasel could do very little to stop Cullen from taking the third, and what was proven to be final, set. A total of sixteen missed darts at double – eight apiece – in the final set showed that nerves were the decisive factor, and the experience of Joe Cullen won out, ending the hopes of Wessel Nijman for this year’s World Championship.
The weapons of choice for Wessel are his own signature darts from Mission, available now from Darts Corner, as well as most reputable retailers.
Check out the full Wessel Nijman range here!
The darts themselves are rather a simple barrel, with radial grooves along the centre and front of the barrel creating a familiar feel for those that have played the game for a while, replicating the grip of the darts used by the great Eric Bristow.
The rings themselves have a thinner ring cut into them, which, while not adding anything of significance as far as grip is concerned, will create a micro-grip feel. My best description is that the darts feel immediately ‘worn in’, while retaining the full level of grip a new dart provides. I feel the 5/10 rating Mission has given these is fair, though from a personal standpoint, I’d perhaps drop that down to a 4/10.
If you’re a rear-gripper like myself, I’m afraid you’re out of luck with these. The rear 25% of the barrel has been left completely untouched, save for a laser-etched Mission logo. As with player darts, they’re not designed with the general consumer in mind, and it shows with these – they are very specific to Wessel, and his slightly jarring throwing action.
The taper towards the point is very bull-nosed, with slight razor-grip rings cut into the taper to not only reduce deflections, but to protect your flights. While uncoated, the darts feature painted rings in the colours of the Dutch flag.
In terms of specifications, the darts are available in both 23g and 25g, and are produced with a 95% tungsten billet. Both weights are 50.90mm in length, with the 23g just 6.30mm in width, while the 25g comes in at 6.45mm. The darts are supplied with a set of Mission Wessel Nijman No. 2 flights, and a set of Mission Sabre shafts. The Nijman’s are also available in an 18g soft-tip version, with the dimensions identical to the 23g steel-tip.
Now that Wessell has slayed the big stage worries will his new arrows aid his progress to include major titles? How do you think Wessel Nijman will get on in 2025 and beyond? Let us know over on X/Twitter, @Darts_World and @JoeReid180!
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC and Graphics: Mission Darts
