Krzysztof Ratajski

Krzysztof Ratajski
Personal information
Nickname The Polish Eagle
Born (1977-01-01) 1 January 1977
Warsaw, Poland
Home town Skarżysko-Kamienna
Poland
Darts information
Playing darts since 1997
Darts 20g Bulls
Laterality Right-handed
Walk-on music "We Like to Party" by Vengaboys
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO 2007–2017
PDC 2018-
Current world ranking 73
BDO majors - best performances
World Ch'ship Last 16: 2017
World Masters Winner (1): 2017
World Darts Trophy Last 32: 2016
PDC premier events - best performances
World Ch'ship Last 64: 2018
European Ch'ship Last 32: 2017
UK Open Last 16: 2018
Other tournament wins
Czech Open 2009
Denmark Open 2008
Latvia Open 2010
Poland National Championships 2009
Soft Tip EDU European Championship 2008
Soft Tip SDWF European Championship 2005
UK Open Qualifier 2018

Krzysztof Ratajski (born 1 January 1977) is a Polish darts player who plays in PDC events. His biggest achievement to date was winning the 2017 World Masters. Ratajski also plays on the Professional Darts Corporation's European Tour and has represented Poland at the World Cup of Darts on numerous occasions.

Career

Ratajski's first major run came in the 2007 Czech Open where he reached the semi finals. He gained notable wins over Joey ten Berge and local player Marek Polak, eventually losing to Patrick Loos who won the tournament. He then went on to win the 2008 Denmark Open, a tournament previously won by the likes of John Lowe, Eric Bristow, Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld. He defeated Hungary's Nándor Bezzeg, Finland's Marko Kantele and Belgian Geert De Vos en route to the final where he beat Fabian Roosenbrand.

On 4 December 2008 Ratajski qualified for the 2009 BDO World Darts Championship, earning one of five spots available. He earned notable wins over former qualifier Ian Jones and Mike Veitch before beating Robbie Green to qualify, becoming the first Polish player to qualify for either world championship. The next day, Ratajski took part in the 2008 Winmau World Masters, but lost in the very first round to Denmark's Stig Jorgensen. Ratajski then lost in the first round of the 2009 World Championship to Edwin Max.

Ratajski represented Poland in the inaugural PDC World Cup of darts in partnership with Krzysztof Kciuk. They lost 2–6 in the first round to New Zealand, who were represented by Phillip Hazel and Warren Parry. He did not feature in the tournament again until 2013, once more with Kciuk, and they progressed to the last 16 by finishing second in Group E thanks to beating Gibraltar 5–2.[1] They played the host nation Germany, who were represented by Jyhan Artut and Andree Welge, and were defeated 5–2.[2]

He lost in the semi-finals of the 2015 Polish Open 5–2 to Scott Waites.[3] Ratajski made his European Tour debut at the 2015 European Darts Trophy and was edged out 6–5 by Adam Hunt in the first round.[4] He was knocked out 3–2 by Martin Adams in the last 16 of the World Masters.[5]

Ratajski played in the BDO World Trophy for the first time in 2016 and lost 6–4 to Scott Waites.[6] He teamed up with Mariusz Paul at the 2016 PDC World Cup of Darts and they were defeated 5–1 by Belgium in the opening round.[7] He qualified for the International Darts Open and was eliminated 6–1 by Chris Dobey in the first round.[8]

Ratajski qualified for the 2017 BDO World Darts Championship. He earned his first two wins at the event, including a 3–0 victory over Wesley Harms, before narrowly losing to Darius Labanauskas in the last 16. At the 2017 World Cup, Ratajski and Tytus Kanik lost 5–3 in the first round to the Irish team of Mick McGowan and William O'Connor.[9]

At the 2017 World Masters, Ratajski was unseeded and had to start from the first round. He defeated two-time reigning champion Glen Durrant in the quarter-finals, Scotland's Cameron Menzies in the semi-final, and world number one Mark McGeeney 6–1 in the final for his first televised major title. In doing so, Ratajski also guaranteed qualification for the 2018 BDO World Darts Championship, but declined his invitation in favour of an attempt to qualify for the rival 2018 PDC World Darts Championship.[10] He qualified for the latter as the top ranked Eastern European on the PDC Pro Tour.[11]

Ratajski competed in his first PDC premier event as a singles player at the 2017 European Championship. He lost 3–6 to Peter Wright in the first round. In the 2018 World Championship Ratajski lost 1–3 to James Wilson despite winning the first set.

In February 2018 Ratajski became the first Polish player to win a PDC event when he beat Darryl Gurney 6–4 in the final of the sixth UK Open qualifier.[12]

World Championship results

BDO

PDC

References

  1. ↑ "Betfair World Cup of Darts - Saturday Afternoon". PDC. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Betfair World Cup of Darts - Last 16". PDC. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  3. ↑ "2015 Polish Open Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  4. ↑ "European Darts Trophy Day One". PDC. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  5. ↑ "2015 World Masters Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  6. ↑ "2016 BDO World Trophy Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  7. ↑ "2016 PDC World Cup of Darts Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  8. ↑ "HappyBet International Darts Open Day One". PDC. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  9. ↑ "2017 PDC World Cup of Darts Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  10. ↑ "Gary Robson Invite to Lakeside World Pro 2018". BDO. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  11. ↑ "International Qualifiers Confirmed". PDC. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  12. ↑ "UK Open Qualifier 6". PDC. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
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