Krzysztof Ratajski

Krzysztof Ratajski (Polish pronunciation: ; born 1 January 1977) is a Polish professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He has won 12 PDC ranking titles, including three on the European Tour. He also won the 2017 World Masters while competing in the British Darts Organisation (BDO). Nicknamed "the Polish Eagle", Ratajski is a four-time Polish national champion and is regarded as the best Polish player in the sport's history.

Despite not holding a PDC Tour Card, Ratajski won his first three PDC ranking titles during the 2018 PDC Pro Tour and automatically joined the tour the following year, winning his first European Tour title at the 2019 Gibraltar Darts Trophy. He reached his first PDC major semi-final at the 2021 World Matchplay. He is a two-time PDC World Championship quarter-finalist, reaching the last eight at the 2021 and 2026 editions.

Ratajski has represented Poland at the PDC World Cup of Darts 11 times: in 2010, 2013, and then every year from 2016 onwards. At the 2023 World Cup, Ratajski and his teammate Krzysztof Kciuk set the world record for highest pairs three-dart average, with a 118.10 average against Lithuania.

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, defeating 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. They played the host nation Germany, who were represented by Jyhan Artut and Andree Welge, and were defeated 5–2.

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

Ratajski played in the BDO World Trophy for the first time in 2016 and lost 6–4 to Scott Waites. 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. He qualified for the International Darts Open and was eliminated 6–1 by Chris Dobey in the first round.

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.

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. He qualified for the latter as the top ranked Eastern European on the PDC Pro Tour.

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.

2018 In January, Ratajski entered Q-School, but failed to gain a PDC Tour Card. Ratajski played on the 2018 Challenge Tour. Ratajski made the final at event 8 and won event 14. Due to these successes, he was able to play some Players Championship events towards the end of 2018.

In February Ratajski became the first Polish player to win a PDC event, defeating Daryl Gurney 6–4 in the final of the sixth UK Open qualifier.

Ratajski won a Players Championship event on 20 October 2018, defeating Chris Dobey 6–2 in the final of Players Championship 21, despite not having a tour card. Ratajski also won Players Championship 22 the following day, joining an elite club of only 8 PDC players to win two Players Championship titles in a single weekend by beating Adrian Lewis 6–4. His weekend “double header” win secured him a place at the 2019 PDC World Darts Championship. Ratajski also made the 2018 Players Championship Finals, where he beat Gerwyn Price and Adrian Lewis before losing to Danny Noppert, and the 2018 Grand Slam of Darts, where he was drawn in Group B. He defeated Raymond van Barneveld and Adam Smith-Neale and losing to Michael Smith, which meant that he went through to the last 16 stage where he lost to Jonny Clayton.

2019

Despite a 3–2 loss to Seigo Asada in the first round of the 2019 PDC World Championship, Ratajski was able to secure an automatic PDC Tour Card thanks to his placement in the top 64 of the PDC Order of Merit.

He made his debut in several major tournaments over the course of the year, qualifying for the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, and World Series Finals. He reached the quarter-finals of the latter, bowing out in a deciding leg to Mensur Suljović.

He picked up two ranking titles in Players Championship events. He defeated reigning UK Open champion Nathan Aspinall 8–3 in the final of Players Championship 17 and followed that with another win at Players Championship 21, where he defeated Dimitri Van den Bergh 8–7 in the final. These wins saw him enter the world's top 32 for the first time. In September, he won his first European Tour title by beating Dave Chisnall 8–2 in the final of the Gibraltar Darts Trophy, securing his sixth PDC ranking title and the first European Tour victory for a Polish player.

2020 Ratajski was the 21st seed at the 2020 World Championship and started in the second round. In his third appearance at the competition, he achieved his first win by defeating Zoran Lerchbacher 3–1. In the third round, he was beaten 4–3 by Nathan Aspinall.

He won his sole title of the year at Players Championship 4 in February, narrowly beating Ian White 8–7 in the final. In his second appearance at the World Matchplay, he reached the quarter-finals. He defeated Jermaine Wattimena 10–4 in the first round with a three-dart average of 107.53. He progressed to the last eight with a 12–10 win over Gabriel Clemens, before being eliminated by Michael Smith who won 16–13. He reached a further two ranking finals during the year but failed to claim another title, finishing as runner-up at the 18th and 23rd Players Championship events.

2021

Ratajski achieved his first PDC World Championship quarter-final at the 2021 event. After a whitewash win over Ryan Joyce in his opening match, he then whitewashed Simon Whitlock in a 4–0 victory in the third round. A fourth-round win against Gabriel Clemens, a match where both players had darts to win the match, saw Ratajski become the first Polish player to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament. His run was ended by Stephen Bunting, to whom he lost 5–3.

Ratajski reached two televised semi-finals in 2021. He reached the last four of the World Matchplay for the first time after a 16–8 victory over Callan Rydz in the quarter-finals. He initially led his semi-final match against Dimitri Van den Bergh 6–2 but was eventually beaten 17–9. He reached the same stage at the World Series Finals, where he was defeated once again by Van den Bergh. Ratajski was successful in the final event of the 2021 Pro Tour, Players Championship 30, securing the title by defeating Joe Cullen 8–7 in the final.

2022–2025 Ratajski's best result during the 2022 PDC Pro Tour was a final at Players Championship 22, where he lost 8–3 to Nathan Aspinall. He won his first ranking title since November 2021 at 2023 Players Championship 9 with a resounding 8–1 victory over Chris Landman in the final. In Poland's second match of the 2023 PDC World Cup of Darts group stage, Ratajski and Krzysztof Kciuk defeated Lithuania 4–1 in legs, achieving the world record for highest pairs three-dart average with an average of 118.10. At the inaugural Poland Darts Masters, home favourite Ratajski won his opening-round match against Rob Cross 6–3 before exiting the tournament in the quarter-finals. He captured his second European Tour title and tenth PDC title overall by winning the 2023 German Darts Open, beating Stephen Bunting 8–3 in the final.

Ratajski did not win any titles during the 2024 season. Prior to the 2025 World Championship, he revealed that he had been struggling with aneurysms throughout the year. He stated that he underwent two surgeries, which successfully resolved the condition. At the World Championship, he was eliminated in the third round in a 4–3 loss to Kevin Doets despite having multiple match darts to win. In May 2025, Ratajski won Players Championship 15 by defeating Dave Chisnall 8–4 in the final. He reached the semi-finals of the German Darts Championship at the end of the year, losing 7–3 to the eventual champion Nathan Aspinall.

2026 At the 2026 World Championship, Ratajski reached his second World Championship quarter-final. In the third round, he recovered from 3–1 down to defeat Wesley Plaisier, who missed three match darts. He beat Luke Woodhouse 4–2 to progress to the last eight, where he lost 5–0 to Luke Littler. He was a quarter-finalist at the UK Open, and reached successive European Tour semi-finals at the German Darts Grand Prix and the European Darts Grand Prix. In July, Ratajski won his third European Tour title at the European Darts Open, defeating Jermaine Wattimena 8–6 in the final.

World Championship results BDO World Championship 2009: First round (lost to Edwin Max 2–3) 2017: Second round (lost to Darius Labanauskas 3–4)

PDC World Championship 2018: First round (lost to James Wilson 1–3) 2019: First round (lost to Seigo Asada 2–3) 2020: Third round (lost to Nathan Aspinall 3–4) 2021: Quarter-finals (lost to Stephen Bunting 3–5) 2022: Second round (lost to Steve Lennon 1–3) 2023: Third round (lost to Dimitri Van den Bergh 1–4) 2024: Third round (lost to Jonny Clayton 2–4) 2025: Third round (lost to Kevin Doets 3–4) 2026: Quarter-finals (lost to Luke Littler 0–5)

Career finals BDO major finals: 1 (1 title) Legend World Masters (1–0)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Winner 1. 2017 World Masters Mark McGeeney 6–1 (s)

Performance timeline PDC

European Tour

Players Championships