"To be honest, I don’t really care about records": All about the here and now for unstoppable Wessel Nijman after fifth Players Championship title of 2026

Wessel Nijman has said he doesn't care about records and it is all about the here and now after he took down Max Hopp to win the latest Players Championship and his fifth of the season.

Nijman alongside Chris Dobey has dominated the ProTour in 2026 with both showing that although the big names have chosen to skip that even when they are there, it is them who are the shoe-ins and not Humphries, Van Gerwen, Van Veen and co.

The Dutchman thrashed Max Hopp 8-1 in the showpiece to scoop £15,000 again. He is the first to win five in a year since MVG in 2016. He saw off Jurjen van der Velde, Niall Culleton, Joe Cullen, Krzysztof Ratajski and Danny Noppert before downing the returning German.

Hopp was in his first final since returning to the tour and will take solace despite a rude awakening at the hands of the Dutchman who was pleased to save his best for last.

"It’s always good to hold your best game for the final. I’m just so happy to keep the streak I’m having right now, and I’m happy with the way I’m playing today, especially in the later stages of the tournament," said Nijman post final.

"The beginning probably wasn’t the best I’ve ever played, but in the end I didn’t hit an average under 100, so yeah, I’m really pleased to win another one."

Asked how he does it, Nijman said that he doesn't know but that he hopes to continue garnering that winning feeling. It took him a while to get off the mark on both the main tour and also the European Tour but now he has done so, the floodgates in particular in the Players Championship series have blown wide open.

"Yeah, I don’t know, to be honest. I’m feeling pretty confident playing these floor events, and let’s hope I can keep playing like this on the floor for many, many more years."

But while all the hype was there when it came to Nijman managing to win a fifth Players Championship title of the year and breaking records as a result as the first to do so in over ten years ironically done by Michael van Gerwen, he isn't too fussed.

For Nijman, it is about the here and now and not the legacy of such an accolade and he said that he's here to win not claim records. A brutally honest take but one of a man who cares more about titles and rankings and furthering himself. "To be honest, I don’t really care about records. I care about the form I’m playing right now, and that’s pretty good. It’s always nice to have those kinds of records, but obviously they don’t give you much more than the form you’re in."

Setting the goalposts at the start of the year, Nijman wanted to be top 16 and now he has achieved that it is onto the next goal. Nijman says that ultimately he wants to take as many strides as possible to head towards World No.1 before the tail end of the season and that he wants to make further incremental strides.

"I will tell you by the end of the year. As I said, I just wanted to be in the top 16, and I want to take as many steps towards number one as possible by the end of the year. I’m happy to be in the top 16 right now, and let’s hope I can get into the top 10, top eight, top four, top two."

But also he doesn't care much for others skipping tournaments with many of the top names deciding not to bother again this week and also in Austria this weekend but he said that it is all about himself in his head and not others not playing. "I don’t need motivation from other people skipping tournaments. I just want to be part of as many tournaments as possible and play as well as I can."

But he is not thinking about Blackpool either with Nijman saying that a lot can change in the time in which the qualification is still set. Not really. The goal was to be seeded at Blackpool, and I think I’m okay to get into the left side of the draw, but who can tell? There are still three or four months, and a lot can happen in that time.