Wessel Nijman narrowly avoided elimination in 2025 PDC World Darts Championships on Friday afternoon. Nijman was pressed hard Cameron Carolissen and was only able to push South Africa away in the deciding match.
In the fifth, deciding set, Nijman was down 1-2 before narrowly winning after winning two games in a row. “What a tug of war,” Nijman breathed a sigh of relief after speaking to Dutch broadcasters Viaplay.
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“This is not the South Africa you would expect at a time like this, is it,” he continued. “When I was leading 2-0, I didn’t think it would be so difficult. When he came back from 2-0 in sets to 2-2, for a moment I thought, “If only I had done that.” Don’t let this slip through my fingers. However, I was convinced that if he decided on the deciding leg, I would bowl better than him. Last year I did badly in a similar situation. Now I was a more experienced darts player and it paid off.
This is only Nijman’s second participation in the World Championships, but this time the expectations are huge. Thanks to good results on the 2024 route and a good draw on paper, Nijman was placed seventh by bookmakers and became world champion in Alexandra Palace.
However, by the time the tournament started, Nijman was almost sidelined. Nijman himself finds it unusual that he is rated so well by bookmaking agencies. “This is based on my performance in the Grand Slam, but I lost there three times,” he continues in an interview with Viaplay. “And at the Players Championship finals, I lost straight away. So I lost my last four majors. So it makes no sense that the bookmakers list me as the sixth favorite to win the World Championship. “
At a press conference with English journalists, it was discussed that Nijman does not yet have a nickname. He had two reasons for this. “Two reasons. One is that I don’t like nicknames in darts. And the second is that no one has ever given me anything good. But if you don’t like them, no one will give you a good one anyway, he sums up.
Watch his entire post-game press conference below!
