The fact that both Michael van Gerwen and Gian van Veen did not manage to qualify for the Premier League play-offs, which means there is no Dutchman in the O2 for the second year in a row, might make you think the last few months have been disappointing for Dutch darts. This is most certainly not the case.
Wessel Nijman followed his Pro Tour title at the start of the year with a second Players Championship victory, then a third, fourth and even a fifth title on the floor for the young Dutchman!
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On top of that, Nijman also won his maiden Eurotour title at the European Darts Trophy in Göttingen. That means that he has now won six PDC ranking titles already in 2026!
MVG then beat Dirk van Duijvenbode in an all Dutch final in Players Championship 15, after he averaged over 122 in an insane performance in the semifinals! He might still need to find some consistency but at times it looks like Mighty Mike is getting back to his best.
Kevin Doets won his maiden PDC ranking title and in the same week, followed his successes with a maiden Eurotour final at the Austrian Darts Open. In a high quality final it was Josh Rock who was too strong for Doets: an 8-6 win saw ‘Rocky’ win the famous green jacket.
On the PDC Challenge Tour it was Gian van Veen’s brother-in-law who was succesful. Levy Frauenfelder won his maiden PDC title and he has already been rewarded with his debut on the PDC Pro Tour as a result of his Challenge Tour victory.
On the PDC Development Tour Jurjen van der Velde who has already picked up two titles to start the season strongly, with Angelo Balsamo making his second final in the same circuit.
Another recent highlight is without a doubt the return of Benito van de Pas (above) to the international darts circuit as ‘Big Ben’ managed to reach Finals Night in his Portsmouth return to the MODUS Super Series.
Moreno Blom has continued his great form as the Dutchman won his fifth and sixth career WDF ranking titles in the past few months to get himself closer to a Lakeside return!
Anca Zijlstra also won her first WDF ranking titles in close to two years as the Dutch lady defeated Paula Jacklin in the final of both the Northern Ireland Open and the Northern Ireland Matchplay.
Corné Groeneveld also claimed two WDF ranking titles in one weekend. ‘Greenfield’ successfully defended his titles at the Faroe Islands Open and Torshavn Open!
Two more Dutch winners at the WDF Estonia Open where former PDC tour card holder Mike van Duivenbode and legendary Aileen de Graaf. De Graaf even did the double as she also won the Tallinn Open!
Aileen won her third WDF ranking title of the year in May as she defeated World Champion Deta Hedman 5-4 in the final of the Denmark Masters.
The NDB Dutch national rankings also continued as there is only the Dutch National Championship left to finish the 2025/2026 season.
Danny van Trijp picked up his maiden NDB ranking title in March as former Lakeside participant Fabian Roosenbrand returned to the winners circle after victory in event eight.
Maikel Verberk then did the same as Van Trijp and won his first senior NDB ranking title in the ninth event, after which Berry van Peer picked up his first title of the season in event ten.
For the first time in her career, Priscilla Steenbergen …
—–ENDS—–
A segment from the regular DartsWorld Magazine (DW594 Spring Summer 2026) ‘Going Dutch’ Feature
Words: Wim Blokpoel
Images: PDC
