“Of course I blame myself, it just isn’t good enough” – Wessel Nijman reacts after heavy defeat to Luke Littler

Wessel Nijman was knocked out of the Grand Slam of Darts on Thursday night after a 10–4 loss to reigning world champion Luke Littler. The 25-year-old never really got into the match and saw his solid campaign come to an abrupt end, having done well to battle through the group stage earlier in the week.

From the very start it was clear Littler wanted this done quickly. The teenager raced out of the blocks and swept the opening five legs without reply. Nijman watched it slip away without ever finding his rhythm, and with the match played over a best-of-19 format, the contest already felt close to settled after two sessions.

After the first break, Nijman briefly showed some fight. He won two legs in a row to close the gap to 5–2, then later pulled it back to 6–3 and even had a chance to get within touching distance. Littler shut that door in time. At 7–3 up, the Englishman strolled into the next interval, and when he broke again for 8–3 straight after, Nijman’s resistance was gone for good. Littler polished it off professionally and wrapped up a commanding 10–4 victory.

Surprisingly, Nijman insisted nerves were not a factor, despite the stature of the opponent. “Out of all four matches here, I was probably the most relaxed in this one,” he said. “It just wasn’t meant to be.”

Nijman’s exit leaves Danny Noppert as the only Dutch player left in Wolverhampton. Noppert booked his quarter-final place by beating Michael van Gerwen and will face Lukas Wenig next, while Littler continues his charge toward yet another title against Josh Rock.