Wesley Plaisier is not yet a household name in darts. He does not appear on posters, dominate the montages or command automatic reverence in the pubs and living rooms of the sport. In other words, he is certainly no Gerwyn Price. And yet, it is precisely because of the aforementioned that the Iceman’s journey at the 2026 PDC Paddy Power World Championship has already reached its end.
So who, exactly, is the man who silenced a former World Champion with such chilling authority? Plaisier hails from the tongue-twisting Dutch enclave of Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, is 35 years of age, and until recently occupied that uncomfortable space reserved for players everyone respected but few truly feared. He has yet to lift a senior PDC title, but his CV tells a deeper story. Four Challenge Tour titles sit proudly on it, and if you happened to be present at the Belgium Open in 2022 or 2024 – or the Antwerp edition sandwiched neatly in between – you would have watched Wesley Plaisier lifting silverware with quiet intent.
Our resident coach – AIM180 – tells a tale of trying to get the darst community to take note of the Dutchman from around 2016:
“A friend who is a good judge said I should wwatch this fella at the Antwerp Open. I was quite impressed and for some reason was put in mind of Kirk Shepherd the former World finalist. So I made a note to keep an eye out and carried on my way. Almost 3 years later I watched Wesley in the an early Challenge Tour round. His performance was one of the best single games I have seen.
He was playing an experienced player, in decent shape, who threw solidly well. It did not matter a jot Wesley threw a close to perfect game, he averaged north of 107 and whitewashed his major finalist opponent 5-0.
From that day fourth I mentioned him to manufacturers, managers and anyone else who might have an interest. It has to be said I had little luck but I was as certain as I had ever been that here was a player certain to make an impact at the highest levels. My only query was whether he wanted to do so. I think we have our answer now!”
His wider darting world first took notice in 2022 at the German Darts Prix. There, Plaisier did not tiptoe. He barged. Jim Williams, Joe Cullen and Dirk van Duijvenbode were all brushed aside before the run finally ended in the quarter-finals – a last-leg defeat to the eventual champion, Luke Humphries. No disgrace there. Quite the opposite. A year later, back on German soil at the German Darts Open, Plaisier went one better. Another deep run. Another dramatic exit. This time a 7–6 semi-final defeat to Stephen Bunting. Close enough to taste it. Not quite close enough to keep it.
Then came 2024. And with it, transformation. A superb season on the Challenge Tour saw Plaisier finish second overall – a position of enormous consequence. A two-year tour card secured. No arduous and gruelling pilgrimage to the purgatory of Q-School. No uncertainty. No scrambling. Wesley Plaisier had arrived on the main circuit properly, by merit, and with momentum.
This is his second appearance at the PDC World Championship. Twelve months ago, he debuted against the Japanese, Ryusei Azemoto. Dispatched him, and then bowed out to Peter Wright. Respectable. Educational. Incomplete. This year is different. Because this time, Wesley Plaisier owns the greatest victory of his career. Defeating a former World Champion. A multiple major winner. A man forged in steel and noise. And not merely defeating him – annihilating him. A straight-sets whitewash of Gerwyn Price. A result that stunned the Palace and froze the narrative mid-sentence.
Very few gave Plaisier a chance. Almost none foresaw a clean sweep. And now? Now the path opens.
Next stands Krzysztof Ratajski – the Polish Eagle, seasoned, dangerous, unapologetically efficient. Should Plaisier send him home, the reward is mouth-watering: a match where the winner would advance to the quarter-finals which comes with a guaranteed £100,000. That meeting, should he beat Ratajski, would be against either Andrew Gilding or Luke Woodhouse. With due respect to Goldfinger and Woody, it could have looked a lot more perilous.
If you can whitewash the Iceman, belief follows. Confidence hardens. And suddenly, Ally Pally no longer feels like hostile territory – it feels like opportunity. Wesley Plaisier may not yet be that household name. But households are starting to ask. And if this run continues, they may still be talking about him well into the new year – perhaps even into 2026 itself.
—–ENDS—-
Images: PDC
