Sports

Krzysztof Ratajski delights in ‘superb’ Players Championship win as he breaks world top 32


Krzysztof Ratajski won a fifth PDC title on Saturday (Picture: PDC/Lawrence Lustig)

Krzysztof Ratajski continues his surge up the PDC Order of Merit by winning his fifth ranking title at Players Championship 21 in Hildesheim, Germany.

The Polish Eagle made the most of a field which was missing many of the biggest names in the sport, beating Dimitri van den Bergh 8-7 in a dramatic final.

Ratajski may have only had to beat one top 32 player on his way to the title (#31 Van den Bergh) but it makes no difference to the top prize of £10,000, which he pockets, and takes him into the world’s top 32 for the first time in his career.

The 42-year-old beat impressive German star Gabriel Clemens in the last 32, with his best perfomance coming in a 7-1 battering of Danny Noppert in the semi-finals.

‘I’m very happy. It was very tight and it was really, really hard,’ said Ratajski.

‘I played my semi-final against Danny Noppert and I had never beaten him, but today I played almost a 104 average and it was superb.

‘In the final with Dimitri, I’ve also lost with him many times, and I thought about it. When I was 7-7, I said to myself that I must win. It’s a very important result for me.’

Van Den Bergh was 4-2 and 6-4 ahead in teh final, before Ratajski rattled off three legs on the spin at a crucial time.

The Belgian took it to a decider, but Ratajski won the decider in 15 darts to take the title.

Van den Bergh arguably had a tougher run to the final, beating the likes of Joe Cullen, Justin Pipe, Simon Whitlock and Ian White to make it into the showpiece.

Players Championship 22 takes place in the same venue in Hildesheim on Sunday and with the likes of Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright, Daryl Gurney, James Wade and Gerwyn Price all absent, the entire field will be confident of claiming the title.



Ratajski results at Players Championship 21

  • Final: (89.1) 8-7 Dimitri van den Bergh
  • SFs: (103.9) 7-1 Danny Noppert
  • QFs: (97.5) 6-5 Mickey Mansell
  • L16: (99) 6-3 Conan Whitehead
  • L32: (91.8) 6-3 Gabriel Clemens
  • L64: (84.6) 6-2 Jonathan Worsley
  • L128: (91.7) 6-2 Maik Kuivenhoven

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