Wessel Nijman continued his remarkable 2026 form by sweeping aside Benjamin Pratnemer 6-2 in the second round of the Slovak Darts Open in Bratislava. Though not at his brilliant best, the Dutchman did enough to advance, helped by his opponent missing 15 doubles. Nijman himself missed 10 darts at the outer ring and averaged 91.45.
Nijman arrived in Slovakia as a confident man, coming off the back of a sixth Players Championship title in 2026. He has won seven titles this year including a maiden European Tour triumph at the European Darts Trophy. After defeating Ryan Searle in a thrilling final in Wigan, he made the trip to Bratislava for the inaugural showing of this tournament.
Nijman sailed into a 3-0 lead, breaking with a terrific 108 outshot with his opponent stranded on six. Pratnemer broke back to make it 3-2 after a flurry of missed doubles, but Nijman broke straight back and won the final three games to set up a last-16 tie against Stephen Bunting.
After the match, Nijman shared his thoughts: 'Especially after that 110 finish, I already felt very confident that I was probably going to win this match. Especially when you play a slow player, you've got a lot of time to think. That's when the focus can slip away. It wasn't a good or perfect match, but in the end I won, and that's what matters.'
Reflecting on the key moment, he added: 'Yeah, especially in the second leg, where he had a full hand to make it 1–0. That's where I could get the break in. Obviously, I took out the 110, and in my head I was like, "This has got to be the breaking point in the game, and I'm going to step over it now." I probably made it a bit more difficult for myself than I thought, but in the end, 6–2 doesn't sound like a difficult game, does it?'
Asked whether he was tired of winning, Nijman replied: 'I said it in the interview after I won the last ProTour. I said it never gets boring, so I hope you can change your notes every week.'