It was exactly one week ago when Jermaine Wattimena had a 7-2 lead over Luke Littler in their second-round match at the World Matchplay.
He was just four legs away from potentially the biggest win of his career in a huge upset, but Littler fought back and won the game in a tiebreaker.
It could have been the beginning of a career-changing run for Wattimena, but Littler cut those hopes short.
One week later, Wattimena was able to make a deep run, and although it wasn't in Blackpool, he was still able to win his first career PDC title.
Wattimena wins Players Championship 23
Jermaine entered the day as world number 30, and with the event win, moved up 4 spots to world number 26.
Wattimena has a real chance at moving further up on the Main OoM, as he won't be defending any money at the World Grand Prix, European Championship or the Grand Slam of Darts (if he qualifies).
He has also moved up to 22nd overall on the ProTour OoM.
His day started with a dominant first-round game, averaging 103.57 in a 6-3 win over Jose de Sousa.
He then went on to play Robert Owen, defeating him 6-1 while simultaneously averaging 104.61.
MORE: Sebastian Bialecki wins first career PDC title at Players Championship 22
Against Gabriel Clemens, he won 6-4 in the third round, averaging 95.53.
In the final 16, he beat fellow Dutchman Danny Noppert, 6-4.
Wattimena was back with an average of 98.11 against Ryan Joyce in the quarterfinals.
He beat a 2025 Players Championship event winner, Bradley Brooks, in the semifinals, 7-2.
Lastly, he beat Germany's Lukas Wenig in the final, 8-5, to claim his first PDC title.
The next PDC tour event will take place starting on August 8th, as darts head over to Australia for the Australian Darts Masters.
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