Krzysztof Ratajski ends two-year wait for ranking title at Players Championship 15
Krzysztof Ratajski ended a run of seven straight defeats to claim the Players Championship 15 title in Hildesheim on Monday.
Ratajski had remarkably suffered seven consecutive first round exits on the ProTour but he halted that run in sensational style at Halle 39.
The Polish number one defeated Dave Chisnall in the final 8-4 to seal his eighth Players Championship title – a crucial triumph which moves him into the provisional qualification places for July’s Betfred World Matchplay.
Ratajski reeled off four straight legs to seize control against Chisnall, following up legs of 15, 14 and 15 darts with a 123 checkout to move 4-1 up.
Chisnall reduced the deficit to 4-3 with back-to-back legs of his own, but after maintaining his cushion with a brace of 13-darters, Ratajski wrapped up victory with a clinical 86 finish on the bull.
“I really enjoyed that. I’m so happy,” reflected Ratajski, who averaged 101.7 in the final and converted eight doubles from 13 attempts.
“In the back of my head, I knew I had a chance to get to the World Matchplay, and this is a very big first step towards that.
“The last few years have been a difficult time for me. I’ve had health problems and other problems, and my results have not been good.
“I had lost seven matches in a row before today, but that is darts.
“I was 3-0 down in my first match, I was 4-1 down in the third round so it was a difficult tournament for me, but I’m very happy I did it.”
Ratajski looked set to suffer an eighth straight defeat on the ProTour when he trailed Dylan Slevin 3-0 in round, but only to reel off six legs in a row to complete the turnaround.
Following a routine second round victory over Jim Long, Ratajski then fought back from 4-1 down to deny debutant Jamai van den Herik in a decider, before averaging 102.5 in a whitewash win over Carl Sneyd.
Ratajski later survived a match dart and defied a 102 average from Ross Smith to win through a compelling quarter-final, before running out a convincing 7-4 winner over Scott Williams in the semi-finals.
Chisnall, meanwhile, registered a quartet of ton-plus averages en route to the final, which included a 108 in his second round demolition of Darius Labanauskas.
The St Helens star also achieved perfection midway through his clash against the Lithuanian, before averaging 101, 100 and 104 to dump out William Borland, Joe Cullen and Mike De Decker respectively.
However, Chisnall was forced to survive two match darts in his semi-final success against Danny Noppert – who overcame Michael Smith, Callan Rydz and Gian van Veen to reach the last four.
The former UK Open champion was joined in the semis by Williams, who posted a trio of ton-plus averages to advance to his second ranking semi-final of the season.
Chisnall’s nine-darter was one of two perfect legs struck in Hildesheim on Monday, as Luke Woodhouse also produced a moment of magic in his second round tie against Martijn Dragt, but was unable to avert defeat.
Meanwhile, Michael van Gerwen 0 the solitary Premier League player in action this week – suffered his fifth opening round exit in six ProTour events, succumbing to an impressive Dominik Gruellich.
Peter Wright bowed out at the same stage to Jim Williams, while Damon Heta and Wessel Nijman also crashed out at the first hurdle.
Players Championship 15 Results
Monday May 12
First Round
Martin Schindler 6-5 Richard Veenstra
Christian Kist 6-1 Brendan Dolan
Dom Taylor 6-3 Mensur Suljovic
Sam Spivey 6-2 Andreas Harrysson
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Robert Grundy
Sebastian Bialecki 6-3 Benjamin Reus
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Pero Ljubic
Alexander Merkx 6-2 Oskar Lukasiak
Gary Anderson 6-2 Rob Owen
Matthew Dennant 6-3 Viktor Tingstrom
Martin Lukeman 6-5 Graham Hall
Patrick Geeraets 6-1 Stefaan Henderyck
Ted Evetts 6-5 Wessel Nijman
Scott Williams 6-3 Matt Campbell
Kevin Doets 6-0 Maximilian Czerwinski
Thibault Tricole 6-2 Florian Hempel
Ross Smith 6-1 Connor Scutt
Adam Lipscombe 6-3 Mario Vandenbogaerde
William O’Connor 6-1 Joshua Richardson
Owen Bates 6-3 Jack Tweddell
James Wade 6-4 Ryan Meikle
Keane Barry 6-2 Graham Usher
Ryan Joyce 6-5 Michele Turetta
Tom Bissell 6-5 Ricky Evans
Jamai van den Herik 6-3 Damon Heta
Wesley Plaisier 6-4 Chris Landman
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Dylan Slevin
Jim Long 6-2 Karel Sedlacek
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Jose De Sousa
Ian White 6-4 Adam Warner
Carl Sneyd 6-5 Ritchie Edhouse
Danny van Trijp 6-1 Brett Claydon
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Berry van Peer
Darius Labanauskas 6-3 Leon Weber
Gabriel Clemens 6-5 Bradley Brooks
William Borland 6-2 Lukas Wenig
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Adam Paxton
Martijn Dragt 6-1 Kai Gotthardt
Joe Cullen 6-3 Dennie Olde Kalter
Nathan Girvan 6-2 Rhys Griffin
Ryan Searle 6-2 Greg Ritchie
Jeffrey De Graaf 6-4 Mickey Mansell
Niko Springer 6-2 Madars Razma
Justin Hood 6-1 Andy Boulton
Mike De Decker 6-4 Danny Lauby
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Tavis Dudeney
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-2 Dragutin Horvat
Darren Beveridge 6-5 Cor Dekker
Dominik Gruellich 6-5 Michael van Gerwen
George Killington 6-3 Tytus Kanik
Callan Rydz 6-3 James Hurrell
Jelle Klaasen 6-3 Cam Crabtree
Danny Noppert 6-2 Kevin Burness
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-4 Radek Szaganski
Michael Smith 6-5 Jitse Van der Wal
Adam Hunt 6-3 Jurjen van der Velde
Gian van Veen 6-3 Nathan Rafferty
Stephen Burton 6-4 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Alan Soutar 6-2 Stefan Bellmont
Darryl Pilgrim 6-1 Marvin van Velzen
Jim Williams 6-4 Peter Wright
Max Hopp 6-5 Thomas Lovely
Niels Zonneveld 6-3 Steve Lennon
Nick Kenny 6-5 Andy Baetens
Second Round
Martin Schindler 6-4 Christian Kist
Dom Taylor 6-4 Sam Spivey
Sebastian Bialecki 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Alexander Merkx
Gary Anderson 6-4 Matthew Dennant
Martin Lukeman 6-5 Patrick Geeraets
Scott Williams 6-2 Ted Evetts
Thibault Tricole 6-5 Kevin Doets
Ross Smith 6-2 Adam Lipscombe
William O’Connor 6-3 Owen Bates
Keane Barry 6-5 James Wade
Ryan Joyce 6-2 Tom Bissell
Jamai van den Herik 6-5 Wesley Plaisier
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Jim Long
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-5 Ian White
Carl Sneyd 6-5 Danny van Trijp
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Darius Labanauskas – *Chisnall hits a nine-darter*
William Borland 6-5 Gabriel Clemens
Martijn Dragt 6-4 Luke Woodhouse – *Woodhouse hits a nine-darter*
Joe Cullen 6-3 Nathan Girvan
Jeffrey De Graaf 6-4 Ryan Searle
Justin Hood 6-1 Niko Springer
Mike De Decker 6-1 Kim Huybrechts
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-5 Darren Beveridge
Dominik Gruellich 6-4 George Killington
Callan Rydz 6-0 Jelle Klaasen
Danny Noppert 6-4 Maik Kuivenhoven
Michael Smith 6-2 Adam Hunt
Gian van Veen 6-2 Stephen Burton
Darryl Pilgrim 6-3 Alan Soutar
Jim Williams 6-3 Max Hopp
Niels Zonneveld 6-5 Nick Kenny
Last 32
Dom Taylor 6-5 Martin Schindler
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Sebastian Bialecki
Gary Anderson 6-2 Martin Lukeman
Scott Williams 6-3 Thibault Tricole
Ross Smith 6-2 William O’Connor
Ryan Joyce 6-2 Keane Barry
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Jamai van den Herik
Carl Sneyd 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Dave Chisnall 6-1 William Borland
Joe Cullen 6-4 Martijn Dragt
Jeffrey De Graaf 6-5 Justin Hood
Mike De Decker 6-3 Ricardo Pietreczko
Callan Rydz 6-4 Dominik Gruellich
Danny Noppert 6-2 Michael Smith
Gian van Veen 6-1 Darryl Pilgrim
Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Jim Williams
Last 16
Dom Taylor 6-1 Jermaine Wattimena
Scott Williams 6-4 Gary Anderson
Ross Smith 6-2 Ryan Joyce
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-0 Carl Sneyd
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Joe Cullen
Mike De Decker 6-1 Jeffrey De Graaf
Danny Noppert 6-5 Callan Rydz
Gian van Veen 6-0 Niels Zonneveld
Quarter-Finals
Scott Williams 6-3 Dom Taylor
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Ross Smith
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Mike De Decker
Danny Noppert 6-1 Gian van Veen
Semi-Finals
Krzysztof Ratajski 7-4 Scott Williams
Dave Chisnall 7-6 Danny Noppert
Final
Krzysztof Ratajski 8-4 Dave Chisnall
