Dutch darts player Wessel Nijman is the odds-on favourite to beat Steve Beaton in their first round tie at the World Championship on Tuesday, but he doesn’t enter the tournament without controversy.
Nijman, 23, was suspended for two-and-a-half years in 2020 after purposely losing a match 4-0 against David Evans in the online Modus A Night event where participants played in their bedrooms due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He claims one of his friends got a message via Instagram, which detailed if he threw the match he’d get a payout. After the fix, he was quickly informed by event organisers that he was under suspicion of the offence.
The youngster immediately owned up to his mistake to avoid a heavy punishment and return to playing as soon as possible under the advice of commentator Jacques Nieuwlaat.
“We ran into it [being caught] almost immediately. Then I had to go on a kind of interview at the DRA. They showed the evidence they had and I basically couldn’t do anything.
“He [Nieuwlaat] also immediately said that I had to confess. The punishment will then be lower and I could possibly just start playing darts again in the future.”
According to the best new UK betting sites, Nijman is the 4/7 favourite to beat 11/8 underdog Steve Beaton in the first round of the 2024 World Darts Championship.
🎯 World Darts Championship 2024
🇳🇱 Wessel Nijman
Age: 23
Home Town: 🇳🇱 Uitgeest
Round 1: vs. 🏴 Beaton2023 Average: 93.12 (41.)
2023 Checkout-Pcnt: 40.91% (19.)
2023 W/L Record: 105 Wins / 22 Losses
Best WM Result: Debut#DartsWM pic.twitter.com/h73zDsqXUG— Lukas Meitinger (@dartsergebnisse) December 15, 2023
He received a fine and a five year suspension, to which he only served half – and most of the guaranteed money he will make from his appearance at Alexandra Palace will go towards paying the fine.
The winner of Tuesday’s clash will set up a second round showdown with 27th ranked player Daryl Gurney, with the winner of Nathan Aspinall vs Ricky Evans to follow.
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