Wessel Nijman emerges as a truly fearsome opponent for Luke Littler

Wessel Nijman managed to reach the second round at the Baltic Sea Darts Open in Kiel on Friday night with a handsome 6-3 victory over teenage sensation Luke Littler. However, it was certainly not Nijman's first victory over "The Nuke".

It was already the seventh encounter between the two players, and no fewer than six times Nijman emerged victorious. However, the duel in Kiel was the first stage encounter between Nijman and Littler.

The Dutchman and the Englishman faced each other six times on the Development Tour in 2023. Nijman won the first four clashes, before Littler managed to win the fifth encounter. Nijman then won the sixth clash on the Development Tour in 2023, after which he has now won from Littler on the European Tour as well.

Of all the players who have played at least five times against Littler, no one has as good a head-to-head record as Nijman. By the way, Andy Baetens and Michael Smith also have a good record against Littler. Baetens won four of the five duels between them, while Smith has won four of his six matches against Littler.