Resurgent Krzysztof Ratajski romps to Players Championship Nine title

Krzysztof Ratajski claimed his tenth PDC title with an 8-1 demolition of Chris Landman in Saturday’s Players Championship Nine final in Wigan.

Ratajski, runner-up at Players Championship Eight last month, dispatched the Dutchman in a one-sided final to seal his first PDC ranking title since November 2021.

The Polish number one has enjoyed a welcome return to form this season and produced a series of solid performances at the Robin Park Sports Centre to capture the £12,000 top prize.

Ratajski saved his most dominant display for the final, converting two ton-plus checkouts in the opening three legs of his clash against Landman.

Having drawn first blood with a 116 finish, Ratajski converted a clinical 124 checkout to lead 3-0, before reeling off back-to-back legs in 13 and 14 darts to make it five legs without reply.

Landman opened his account in a scrappy sixth, though normal service was soon resumed for Ratajski, who won the next three legs to celebrate his seventh Players Championship crown.

“It feels incredible. It has felt like three years without a title!” joked Ratajski, who was beaten by a resurgent Gary Anderson in last month’s Players Championship Eight final.

“I am playing well. I am working hard at home and I feel comfortable.

“Last year wasn’t a good year for me. I fell out of the top 16 of the ProTour [Order of Merit] so now I’m having to work very hard to play on the European Tour, because I must play [qualifying events].

“It is very difficult, but I am playing in the next three European Tour events, and now this win is a big step to get back towards the top 16 of the ProTour.

“I think everyone has a bad period, even players in the top four and top ten. It is normal. You must wait, you must be patient and work hard.”

Ratajski began his charge with wins over Matt Campbell and Darius Labanauskas, before posting his solitary ton-plus average of the afternoon in a 6-2 defeat of Croatia’s Boris Krcmar.

The former World Matchplay semi-finalist continued his progress with a convincing win over second seed Dave Chisnall, which was followed by a first career victory against Josh Rock in the Quarter-Finals.

This set up a Semi-Final showdown against an in-form Jonny Clayton, and Ratajski was forced to survive four match darts in the latter stages of his clash against the Premier League star.

It proved to be a landmark day for Landman, who claimed a host of big scalps to reach his maiden PDC ranking final.

The Challenge Tour star, one of the PDPA Associate Members topping up the field due to the absence of Tour Card Holders including World Champion Michael Smith, followed up early wins over Ron Meulenkamp and Mickey Mansell by dumping out top seed Luke Humphries.

He maintained his charge with a resounding 6-1 win over Belgian star Mike De Decker, before surviving a host of match darts against Martin Schindler, recovering from 5-2 down to prevail.

Landman’s fairy-tale run continued with Semi-Final success against Brendan Dolan – who followed up a ton-plus average against Connor Scutt by edging out James Wade in a decider to reach the Last Four.

Clayton also departed at the Semi-Final stage, coming through last-leg shoot-outs against Dutch duo Gian van Veen and Berry van Peer earlier in the day.

The Welshman also accounted for Ricardo Pietreczko and Keane Barry – when he missed double 12 for a nine-darter – before a 108 average in the Quarter-Finals curtailed Anderson’s bid for back-to-back ProTour titles.

Despite this, Anderson continued his fine run of form, whitewashing Dimitri Van den Bergh, averaging 109 to demolish Chris Dobey and later dumping out Dirk van Duijvenbode in a last-leg thriller.

The Scot bowed out in the Quarter-Finals alongside Wade, Schindler and World Youth Champion Rock, who followed up a brace of ton-plus averages with a whitewash win over Ryan Searle.

This weekend’s ProTour double-header concludes on Sunday with Players Championship Ten as 128 players return to action.

Players Championship Nine Results

Saturday April 15

First Round
Luke Humphries 6-4 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 Tony Martinez
Mickey Mansell 6-5 Jim Williams
Chris Landman 6-2 Ron Meulenkamp
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Jules van Dongen
Mike De Decker 6-4 Bradley Brooks
Jose De Sousa 6-5 Kevin Doets
Scott Williams 6-4 Graham Usher
Joe Cullen 6-4 Jacques Labre
Cameron Menzies 6-2 Nick Fullwell
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Karel Sedlacek
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-5 William O’Connor
Martin Schindler 6-4 Cam Crabtree
Dom Taylor 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Martin Lukeman 6-0 Robert Owen
Keegan Brown 6-3 Devon Petersen
Damon Heta 6-3 Ronny Huybrechts
Connor Scutt 6-4 Jimmy Hendriks
Andy Boulton 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Pascal Rupprecht 6-4 Maik Kuivenhoven
Darryl Pilgrim 6-3 Andrew Gilding
Thibault Tricole 6-1 Jamie Clark
Brendan Dolan 6-2 Kevin Burness
Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Ryan Joyce
Mario Vandenbogaerde w/o Rob Cross
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-5 Geert Nentjes
Daryl Gurney 6-1 George Killington
Ian White 6-1 John Henderson
Ross Smith 6-2 Arron Monk
Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
James Wade 6-3 Owen Bates
Mervyn King 6-2 Joe Murnan
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Richie Burnett
Alan Soutar 6-3 Robbie Knops
Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 James Wilson
Graham Hall 6-2 Lewis Williams
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Matt Campbell
Darius Labanauskas 6-0 Adam Gawlas
Gabriel Clemens 6-3 Vincent van der Voort
Boris Krcmar 6-3 Jose Justicia
Josh Rock 6-2 Danny van Trijp
Scott Waites 6-4 Owen Roelofs
Steve Lennon 6-5 Madars Razma
Lee Evans 6-3 Darren Webster
Ryan Searle 6-5 Radek Szaganski
Richard Veenstra 6-3 Nathan Rafferty
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-3 Jeff Smith
Dylan Slevin 6-5 Nick Kenny
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Ross Montgomery
Daniel Klose 6-3 Christian Kist
Ted Evetts 6-1 Ryan Meikle
Josh Payne 6-1 Ricky Evans
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Stephen Burton
Gary Anderson 6-3 Niels Zonneveld
Chris Dobey 6-2 Shaun Wilkinson
Adam Smith-Neale 6-4 Damian Mol
Danny Noppert 6-1 Brian Raman
John O’Shea 6-5 Jurjen van der Velde
Keane Barry 6-5 Steve Beaton
Martijn Kleermaker 6-4 Callum Goffin
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Gian van Veen
Berry van Peer 6-2 Luc Peters
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-5 Callan Rydz
Adam Warner 6-5 Danny Jansen

Second Round
Luke Humphries 6-4 Ritchie Edhouse
Chris Landman 6-4 Mickey Mansell
Mike De Decker 6-3 Stephen Bunting
Jose De Sousa 6-2 Scott Williams
Joe Cullen 6-5 Cameron Menzies
Kim Huybrechts 6-0 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Martin Schindler 6-5 Dom Taylor
Keegan Brown 6-4 Martin Lukeman
Connor Scutt 6-3 Damon Heta
Andy Boulton 6-5 Pascal Rupprecht
Darryl Pilgrim 6-5 Thibault Tricole
Brendan Dolan 6-4 Luke Woodhouse
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Daryl Gurney 6-1 Ian White
Mensur Suljovic 6-3 Ross Smith
James Wade 6-3 Mervyn King
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Alan Soutar
Graham Hall 6-1 Raymond van Barneveld
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
Boris Krcmar 6-2 Gabriel Clemens
Josh Rock 6-2 Scott Waites
Steve Lennon 6-5 Lee Evans
Ryan Searle 6-4 Richard Veenstra
Dylan Slevin 6-2 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-0 Daniel Klose
Josh Payne 6-3 Ted Evetts
Gary Anderson 6-0 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Chris Dobey 6-4 Adam Smith-Neale
Danny Noppert 6-1 John O’Shea
Keane Barry 6-3 Martijn Kleermaker
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Berry van Peer
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-5 Adam Warner
Losers: £750

Last 32
Chris Landman 6-4 Luke Humphries
Mike De Decker 6-3 Jose De Sousa
Joe Cullen 6-2 Kim Huybrechts
Martin Schindler 6-4 Keegan Brown
Connor Scutt 6-5 Andy Boulton
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Darryl Pilgrim
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Krzysztof Kciuk
James Wade 6-3 Mensur Suljovic
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Graham Hall
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Boris Krcmar
Josh Rock 6-4 Steve Lennon
Ryan Searle 6-5 Dylan Slevin
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-0 Josh Payne
Gary Anderson 6-1 Chris Dobey
Keane Barry 6-3 Danny Noppert
Jonny Clayton 6-2 Ricardo Pietreczko
Losers: £1,250

Last 16
Chris Landman 6-1 Mike De Decker
Martin Schindler 6-3 Joe Cullen
Brendan Dolan 6-1 Connor Scutt
James Wade 6-1 Daryl Gurney
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Dave Chisnall
Josh Rock 6-0 Ryan Searle
Gary Anderson 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Keane Barry
Losers: £2,000

Quarter-Finals
Chris Landman 6-5 Martin Schindler
Brendan Dolan 6-5 James Wade
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-4 Josh Rock
Jonny Clayton 6-1 Gary Anderson
Losers: £3,000

Semi-Finals
Chris Landman 7-5 Brendan Dolan
Krzysztof Ratajski 7-6 Jonny Clayton
Losers: £4,000

Final
Krzysztof Ratajski 8-1 Chris Landman
Winner: £12,000
Runner-up: £8,000