Rampant Ratajski claims Players Championship 17 title

Krzysztof Ratajski secured a fourth PDC ranking title at Players Championship 17 in Wigan on Saturday after defeating Nathan Aspinall 8-3 in the final.

Ratajski, a back-to-back Players Championship event winner last season, maintained his 100 per cent record in PDC finals as he thrashed the UK Open champion to take the £10,000 title.

The Polish number one showed superb consistency across the day, averaging over 100 in five of his seven victories en route to glory.

Ratajski began the day by edging out Spain’s Toni Alcinas 6-5, before defeating Barrie Bates, Glen Durrant and Finland’s Marko Kantele to reach his second ProTour Quarter-Final of the year.

There, the 42-year-old whitewashed Jamie Hughes 6-0, followed by a 7-3 Semi-Final success over James Wilson and a dominant display in the final.

“I feel really good about this win, I am very satisfied with how I played,” said Ratajski.

“Every match I played I averaged around 100 or more, but even with that sometimes it was very difficult and I won some close games.

“I think I have been a little unlucky this year even though I played really well. Even when I play super my opponents sometimes play better.

“Of course, I believe I am able to win the World Matchplay if I play on a high level like I did today.”

Ratajski made a flying start to the final, racing into a 3-0 lead before Aspinall stopped the rot to get off the mark in leg four.

The former World Masters champion then reeled off a further three consecutive legs with notable checkouts of 144 and 122, and after he missed double 12 for a second 144 finish, Aspinall stepped in to peg back to 6-2 adrift.

Two missed darts at doubles from ‘The Asp’ allowed Ratajski to land double four to move to the verge of victory, and though the UK Open champion pegged one back, the Pole polished off the triumph with a 95 checkout.

World number 13 Aspinall continued his progression by reaching his second PDC final since being crowned UK Open Champion in March ahead of his World Matchplay debut in July.

A number of players were vying for the 16 ProTour Order of Merit places in the Blackpool event ahead of the cut-off next weekend, with Wilson’s run to his first Semi-Final since October 2018 cementing his place among the qualifiers.

It was also a memorable day for Belgian ace Dimitri van den Bergh as he landed a nine-dart finish in his 6-3 win over John Henderson in Round Two on the way to reaching the Last Eight.

Ron Meulenkamp reached his second ProTour Semi-Final in as many months to keep his Matchplay hopes alive, while Kyle Anderson made it to the Last 32 to stay in the final provisional qualifying place.

Ryan Searle, Keegan Brown and Ross Smith lead the chasing pack, but they all suffered exits at the Second Round stage.

Saturday June 22

First Round

Carroll, Shaun 6-4 White, Ian

Kantele, Marko 6-4 Gilding, Andrew

Anderson, Kyle 6-5 Robbe, Mario

Bain, Jamie 6-3 Eastwood, Gary

Ratajski, Krzysztof 6-5 Alcinas, Toni

Bates, Barrie 6-5 Lerchbacher, Zoran

Durrant, Glen 6-2 Lewis, Jamie

Hudson, Peter 6-4 Huybrechts, Ronny

Suljovic, Mensur 6-3 Van de Pas, Benito

Rodriguez, Rowby-John 6-3 Shepherd, Kirk

Noppert, Danny 6-3 Wilson, Mark

Kist, Christian 6-4 Van Duijvenbode, Dirk

Evans, Ricky 6-2 Thornton, Robert

Pipe, Justin 6-3 Dudbridge, Mark

Hopp, Max 6-5 Edhouse, Ritchie

Hughes, Jamie 6-3 Ward, Harry

Humphries, Luke 6-4 Wade, James

Woodhouse, Luke 6-3 Van der Meer, Vincent

Van der Voort, Vincent 6-5 Meeuwisse, Yordi

Edgar, Matthew 6-4 Huybrechts, Kim

Zonneveld, Niels 6-5 Clayton, Jonny

Reyes, Cristo 6-5 Schindler, Martin

Bunting, Stephen 6-3 Kanik, Tytus

Meikle, Ryan 6-5 Owen, Robert

Gurney, Daryl 6-1 Dootson, Eddie

Bunse, Christian 6-1 Killington, George

Wilson, James 6-5 Whitehead, Conan

Worsley, Jonathan 6-4 Monk, Arron

De Sousa, Jose 6-1 Whitlock, Simon

Harrington, Ryan 6-5 Michael, John

King, Mervyn 6-1 Wilkinson, Carl

Smith, Ross 6-1 Robinson, Reece

Price, Gerwyn 6-3 Burness, Kevin

Petersen, Devon 6-4 Burton, Stephen

Clemens, Gabriel 6-5 West, Steve

Stevenson, Simon 6-4 North, Richard

Aspinall, Nathan 6-5 Carlin, Gavin

Prins, Dave 6-3 Mansell, Mickey

Boulton, Andy 6-5 Webster, Darren

Cadby, Corey 6-4 Payne, Josh

Wright, Peter 6-3 Lennon, Steve

Evetts, Ted 6-3 Searle, Ryan

Henderson, John 6-5 Baker, Scott

Van den Bergh, Dimitri 6-3 Razma, Madars

Cullen, Joe 6-2 Dekker, Jan

Clark, Matt 6-2 Joyce, Ryan

De Zwaan, Jeffrey 6-1 Kamphuis, Vincent

McGeeney, Mark 6-4 Justicia, Jose

Lewis, Adrian 6-4 Webster, Mark

Gray, Adrian 6-4 Menzies, Cameron

O’Connor, William 6-2 Kuivenhoven, Maik

Labanauskas, Darius 6-4 Van Duivenbode, Mike

Beaton, Steve 6-3 Jones, Wayne

Richardson, James 6-4 Hunt, Adam

Dobey, Chris 6-1 Temple, Terry

Meulenkamp, Ron 6-5 Nentjes, Geert

Chisnall, Dave 6-1 Murschell, Dawson

Norris, Alan 6-4 Newell, Tony

Klaasen, Jelle 6-4 Brown, Keegan

Dolan, Brendan 6-1 Murnan, Joe

Smith, Michael 6-1 Van Baelen, Davy

Brooks, Bradley 6-3 Tabern, Alan

Wattimena, Jermaine 6-3 Pallett, David

Koltsov, Boris 6-3 Barnard, Michael

Second Round

Kantele, Marko 6-4 Carroll, Shaun

Anderson, Kyle 6-5 Bain, Jamie

Ratajski, Krzysztof 6-1 Bates, Barrie

Durrant, Glen 6-1 Hudson, Peter

Suljovic, Mensur 6-2 Rodriguez, Rowby-John

Noppert, Danny 6-2 Kist, Christian

Pipe, Justin 6-1 Evans, Ricky

Hughes, Jamie 6-4 Hopp, Max

Humphries, Luke 6-3 Woodhouse, Luke

Edgar, Matthew 6-2 Van der Voort, Vincent

Reyes, Cristo 6-4 Zonneveld, Niels

Bunting, Stephen 6-5 Meikle, Ryan

Gurney, Daryl 6-4 Bunse, Christian

Wilson, James 6-2 Worsley, Jonathan

De Sousa, Jose 6-5 Harrington, Ryan

King, Mervyn 6-4 Smith, Ross

Price, Gerwyn 6-4 Petersen, Devon

Clemens , Gabriel 6-1 Stevenson, Simon

Aspinall, Nathan 6-1 Prins, Dave

Cadby, Corey 6-4 Boulton, Andy

Wright, Peter 6-2 Evetts, Ted

Van den Bergh, Dimitri 6-3 Henderson, John – *Van den Bergh hits a nine-darter*

Clark, Matt 6-5 Cullen, Joe

McGeeney, Mark 6-5 De Zwaan, Jeffrey

Lewis, Adrian 6-3 Gray, Adrian

O’Connor, William 6-1 Labanauskas, Darius

Richardson, James 6-5 Beaton, Steve

Meulenkamp, Ron 6-4 Dobey, Chris

Chisnall, Dave 6-3 Norris, Alan

Klaasen, Jelle 6-3 Dolan, Brendan

Smith, Michael 6-2 Brooks, Bradley

Koltsov, Boris 6-4 Wattimena, Jermaine

Losers: £500

Last 32

Kantele, Marko 6-4 Anderson, Kyle

Ratajski, Krzysztof 6-4 Durrant, Glen

Noppert, Danny 6-4 Suljovic, Mensur

Hughes, Jamie 6-4 Pipe, Justin

Humphries, Luke 6-2 Edgar, Matthew

Bunting, Stephen 6-3 Reyes, Cristo

Wilson, James 6-5 Gurney, Daryl

De Sousa, Jose 6-3 King, Mervyn

Price, Gerwyn 6-3 Clemens , Gabriel

Aspinall, Nathan 6-4 Cadby, Corey

Van den Bergh, Dimitri 6-5 Wright, Peter

McGeeney, Mark 6-5 Clark, Matt

O’Connor, William 6-1 Lewis, Adrian

Meulenkamp, Ron 6-5 Richardson, James

Klaasen, Jelle 6-3 Chisnall, Dave

Koltsov, Boris 6-3 Smith, Michael

Losers: £1,000

Last 16

Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Marko Kantele

Jamie Hughes 6-1 Danny Noppert

Luke Humphries 6-3 Stephen Bunting

James Wilson 6-1 Jose de Sousa

Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Gerwyn Price

Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Mark McGeeney

Ron Meulenkamp 6-5 William O’Connor

Boris Koltsov 6-1 Jelle Klaasen

Losers: £1,500

Quarter-Finals

Krzysztof Ratajski 6-0 Jamie Hughes

James Wilson 6-4 Luke Humphries

Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh

Ron Meulenkamp 6-2 Boris Koltsov

Losers: £2,250

Semi-Finals

Krzysztof Ratajski 7-3 James Wilson

Nathan Aspinall 7-5 Ron Meulenkamp

Losers: £3,000

Final

Krzysztof Ratajski 8-3 Nathan Aspinall

Winner: £10,000

Runner-up: £6,000