Dutch darts player
Darts player
Jermaine Wattimena Nickname "The Machine Gun" Born (1988-03-09 ) 9 March 1988 (age 36) NetherlandsHome town Den Helder , Netherlands[ 1] Playing darts since 2006 Darts 22 Gram Bull's Signature Laterality Right-handed Walk-on music "Bella Ciao " by Gunz For Hire BDO 2008–2014 PDC 2014– (Tour Card 2015–) Current world ranking 35 (12 January 2025)[ 2] World Masters Last 24: 2009 World Ch'ship Last 32: 2018 , 2019 , 2021 , 2025 World Matchplay Last 32: 2018 , 2019 , 2020 , 2021 World Grand Prix Quarter Final: 2019 UK Open Last 16: 2018 , 2019 Grand Slam Quarter Final: 2024 European Ch'ship Runner Up: 2024 Premier League Challenger: 2020 PC Finals Last 16: 2017 , 2023 , 2024 World Series Finals Last 16: 2019 2018 Breaks into the top 32 on the Order of Merit for the first time
Jermaine Wattimena (born 9 March 1988) is a Dutch darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He was the runner-up at the 2024 European Championship .
Career
Wattimena won the first event he entered as he claimed the 2008 Malta Open by beating Vincent Busuttil in the final.[ 3] He made his British Darts Organisation debut in a major event at the World Masters and won four games to reach the last 24 where he lost 3–0 to Steve Douglas.[ 4] In 2014, Wattimena won the German Gold Cup courtesy of defeating Jan Dekker 3–2 in the final.[ 5] Later in the year he qualified for the 2015 PDC World Championship by winning the Central European Qualifier, concluding with a 6–3 victory over Kenny Neyens.[ 6] Wattimena entered the event in the preliminary round and narrowly lost 4–3 to Robert Marijanović , missing three match darts in the final leg.[ 7]
He entered PDC Qualifying School in January 2015 and was eliminated in the final round of the third day by Steve Douglas. However, Wattimena had already done enough through the Order of Merit to not even need to play on the fourth day as he finished joint second on the Order of Merit to earn a two-year PDC tour card.[ 8] He qualified for the UK Open and defeated Jonny Clayton 5–1 in the first round, but then lost to Kevin McDine 5–4.[ 9] Wattimena twice lost in the last 16 of Players Championship events during the year and beat Robert Marijanović 6–5 at the European Darts Grand Prix , but was then knocked out 6–3 by Peter Wright in the second round.[ 10] [ 11]
In the first round of the 2016 World Championship , Wattimena lost 3–1 to Mensur Suljović .[ 12] He overcame Andy Smith 6–5 and Kevin Dowling 6–1 at the UK Open , before losing 9–7 to Alan Norris in the third round.[ 13] At the 15th Players Championship wins over Jonny Clayton , David Pallett , Peter Wright , Simon Stevenson and Jelle Klaasen ensured Wattimena played in his first PDC semi-final and he was defeated 6–3 by Michael van Gerwen .[ 14] He qualified for seven European Tour events during the season and, although he didn't get past the second round in any of them, his consistent play saw him make his debut in the European Championship , where he lost 6–1 to Mensur Suljović in the first round.[ 15] [ 16]
He lost 3–1 in the opening round of the World Championship for the second year in a row in the 2017 event , this time to Daryl Gurney .[ 17] He knocked out Mick Todd, Dave Chisnall , Robert Thornton , Kyle Anderson and Benito van de Pas at the seventh Players Championship to reach his second PDC semi-final, where he was defeated by Kim Huybrechts 6–3.[ 18] He reached third PDC semi-final at Players Championship 17, where he beat Alan Tabern , Berry van Peer , Peter Hudson , Steve Beaton and Justin Pipe , before losing to Kevin Painter 6–3.[ 19] He qualified for five European Tour events over 2017, failing to make it past the Last 32 in any of them, meaning he did not qualify for the 2017 European Championship . He made a third Players Championship semi-final of the year in the final weekend in Barnsley, at Players Championship 21, where he knocked out Ross Twell, Ian White , Kevin Painter , Peter Jacques and Michael Smith , before a 6–2 defeat to Adrian Lewis .[ 20] This was enough for him to qualify for the Players Championship Finals , as the 29th seed. Wattimena started off with a 6–0 whitewash win against Keegan Brown . He saw off Mickey Mansell 6–3 in the second round. However, in the last 16, he was defeated 10–9 by Steve Beaton in a deciding leg by Steve Beaton having levelled from 9–5 down. He picked up £8,000 from the Players Championship Finals.
Wattimena's consistent improvement and progression up the rankings was rewarded with a 'challenger' spot for the 2020 Premier League in Rotterdam .[ 21]
On the PDC European Tour Wattimena reached the quarter-finals at both the 2024 Belgian Darts Open and the 2024 German Darts Grand Prix . He lost at the quarter-final stage to Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen respectively, each 6–2 in legs. Wattimena also reached the quarter-finals at the 2024 Czech Darts Open , losing to Kim Huybrechts 6–4.
At the 2024 European Championship , Wattimena reached a first major televised final, losing 11–3 to fellow maiden finalist Ritchie Edhouse .[ 22]
World Championship results
PDC
Career finals
PDC major finals: 1 (1 runner-up)
Legend
European Championship (0–1)
^ (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.
BDO
PDC
PDC European Tour
PDC Players Championships
Performance Table Legend
W
Won the tournament
F
Finalist
SF
Semifinalist
QF
Quarterfinalist
# R RR Prel.
Lost in # round Round-robin Preliminary round
DQ
Disqualified
DNQ
Did not qualify
DNP
Did not participate
WD
Withdrew
NH
Tournament not held
NYF
Not yet founded
References
External links