Home hero Krzysztof Ratajski ousts Jonny Clayton at the Poland Darts Masters
Krzysztof Ratajski marked a dream homecoming at the Poland Darts Masters with a 6-3 victory over Jonny Clayton on the opening night in Gliwice on Friday.
Polish number one Ratajski produced an inspired display to overcome the world number five, averaging 100.3 with six from eight on the doubles to book his place in the quarter-finals.
Clayton’s three winning legs came in 12, 12 and 11 darts, but it was not enough to deny an unflappable Ratajski – who reeled off three straight legs from 3-3 to raise the roof at the PreZero Arena.
The first round saw the eight PDC stars locking horns with their eight East Europe counterparts, and Ratajski was the solitary regional representative to progress to Saturday’s Last Eight.
Reigning champion Luke Littler also took centre stage in Gliwice, coming through a brilliant battle against Karel Sedlacek to open his defence of the title with an entertaining 6-4 victory.
There was nothing to separate the pair after six legs, but Littler established control with clinical 101 and 120 combinations, before wrapping up proceedings with a clutch 76 finish on tops.
“Karel is a top player and he pushed me all the way tonight,” reflected Littler, who averaged 97 and fired in six 180s.
“Early on I missed a few opportunities at tops and double ten, so I decided to switch it up and go for double 16 and double eight, and it worked!
“I just tried to play my game, and I’m sure it will be a great atmosphere in here tomorrow.”
Littler will renew his rivalry with Nathan Aspinall in the quarter-finals after the Stockport star fended off a late rally from Radek Szaganski to close out a hard-fought 6-4 success.
Aspinall, runner-up at last weekend’s US Darts Masters, has recorded back-to-back wins over Littler on the World Series stage in Copenhagen and New York.
Chris Dobey was one of Friday’s stand-out performers, producing a magnificent display of finishing to dispatch Hungary’s Gyorgy Jehirszki in the opening match of the tournament.
Dobey converted 167, 170 and 110 checkouts to complete a thumping 6-1 win, averaging just shy of 101 to confirm his place in a third World Series quarter-final this year.
The Bedlington star’s reward is a showdown with Gerwyn Price, who defied some late double trouble to sweep aside Polish youngster Sebastian Bialecki 6-3.
Last year’s runner-up Rob Cross also ran out a convincing 6-2 winner against Host Nation qualifier Krzysztof Kciuk as he returned to winning ways following his shock whitewash defeat in New York.
Cross will now meet 2023 champion Michael van Gerwen – who battled his way to a scrappy 6-4 win over Croatian debutant Pero Ljubic with an average of just 84.7.
Top seed Stephen Bunting began his bid for a third World Series title of the year with a routine 6-3 defeat of Tytus Kanik to set up a clash with home favourite Ratajski.
Poland Darts Masters 2025 Day One Results
Friday July 4
First Round
Chris Dobey 6-1 Gyorgy Jehirszki
Gerwyn Price 6-3 Sebastian Bialecki
Rob Cross 6-2 Krzysztof Kciuk
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Pero Ljubic
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Tytus Kanik
Luke Littler 6-4 Karel Sedlacek
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Jonny Clayton
Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Radek Szaganski
