Darts star who was given five-year ban for match fixing lands first PDC title

Darts prima Wessel Nijman bushed Stephen Bunting 8-5 to triumph the Players Championship 24 successful Wigan, with the Dutchman claiming his archetypal elder PDC rubric a twelvemonth aft returning from a ban

Wessel Nijman won his archetypal elder PDC rubric by beating Stephen Bunting successful the last of Players Championship 24 successful Wigan.

The Dutchman averaged 99.63 successful an 8-5 win, with his hostile hitting 3 figures astatine 101.11. Nijman, who served fractional of a five-year suspension aft being recovered blameworthy successful 2020 of betting offences, said: "I've felt similar it was coming.

"I thought 'be diligent and it volition come'. It's astir apt the champion months of my darting career. When I was playing the Development Tour past twelvemonth I wasn't expecting to get a circuit card.

"I knew I could triumph it erstwhile I was successful the final. My extremity was to get successful the apical 64 aft 2 years; I'll astir apt get into it aft 1 twelvemonth truthful I'm precise blessed with that."

Nijman bushed Gary Anderson 7-5 successful his semi-final, the Scot having deed a nine-dart decorativeness against Jamie Hughes and averaged implicit 100 crossed his six matches. Bunting ended the tally of Luke Littler successful the semis.

Nijman was handed a five-year prohibition backmost successful 2020 aft admitting to fixing a lucifer astatine the Modus Icons of Darts series. The 24-year-old said astatine the clip that helium had been "put nether immoderate unit to suffer a lucifer and I agreed to bash this".

In a statement, Nijman admitted: "I would similar to spot connected nationalist grounds my sincere regret and apology for the mistake I made successful narration to betting and match-fixing. I was enactment nether immoderate unit to suffer a lucifer and I agreed to bash this.

"I person admitted the offence and instrumentality afloat work for it and volition judge my punishment. I should person spoken to my management, the PDPA, DRA oregon constabulary erstwhile I was enactment successful this presumption and would counsel immoderate different subordinate who finds themselves successful a akin presumption to bash that.

"Instead, I went on with it and made a anserine mistake that I americium rightly being punished for. It was a one-off mistake of judgement which I privation to enactment down maine and bash everything I tin to enactment right."

Nijman served fractional of his five-year ban, with the different fractional suspended aft helium engaged successful subordinate acquisition and anti-corruption measures and helium returned to enactment past twelvemonth connected the PDC Development Tour.

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