Wessel Nijman nearly throws himself into World Matchplay record books after Nathan Aspinall shock

With a sparkling performance Wessel Nijman caused a surprise at the World Matchplay by eliminating former tournament winner Nathan Aspinall 10-6. Nijman defeated his English opponent precisely on his strong point. The 25-year-old dart player from Uitgeest was razor-sharp on the doubles and recorded a fantastic finishing percentage of 62.5 percent.

But scoring also ran like clockwork. Thanks in part to eight 180 scores, Nijman reached an average of 101.72, and that was almost good for a record. Nijman's moyenne was the second highest average ever by a debutant at the World Matchplay.

The record belongs to Aspinall, who thus lost out to Nijman. 'The Asp' threw an average of 102.96 in his World Matchplay debut in 2019 in his match win against Mervyn King (10-5).

Remarkably high is also Cristo Reyes, who made his appearance in Blackpool in 2017. He triumphed 10-3 in the first round against Robert Thornton with an average of 101.32. In addition, Luke Humphries (101.08), Glen Durrant (101.05), Luke Littler (100.83), Gian van Veen (100.81) and Ricardo Pietreczko (100.74) also managed to throw a 100+ average on their World Matchplay debut. Durrant did so in 2019, and Humphries in 2021. Littler, Van Veen and Pietreczko made their debuts in 2024.