Darts results: Watch Peter Wright beat Krzysztof Ratajski to win Players Championship 30

By Sporting Life

Darts

Tue October 15, 2019 · 5y ago

Peter Wright claimed his fourth PDC title of 2019 by defeating Krzysztof Ratajski 8-1 in Tuesday's Players Championship 30 final in Barnsley.

Not content by setting a record broadcast average of 123.5 in a 6-0 victory over Ratajski en route to Monday's semi-final, where he lost to eventual champion Brendan Dolan, Snakebite produced with another dominant display as he took the £10,000 top prize in the year's final Players Championship event.

Wright maintained his brilliant form from his record-breaking day throughout Tuesday's tournament, averaging over 104 against Ryan Searle, Steve West and Mark McGeeney in progressing to the latter stages.

He also overcame Joe Murnan and Arron Monk before taking a 7-2 semi-final win over Danny Noppert.

Wright asserted his dominance immediately in the final, leading 3-0 before legs of 11 and 12 darts moved him five clear of the Polish number one.

Ratajski hit back with a 14-darter, but Wright matched that in two of the next three legs to complete the win.

It's his third ProTour success of the season having claimed back-to-back titles against Justin Pipe and Joe Cullen in July, which were preceded just three days earlier by his triumph at the German Darts Masters.

Wright v Ratajski - Players Championship 30 Final

"It's been a great couple of days," said Wright. "I beat Krzysztof yesterday and today I wanted to try and beat him 8-0!

"He's a fantastic player and the past two days have been very tiring for both of us, so I'm happy to win. It was a hard day and to come through and take the title is brilliant."

Wright now sets his sights on the Paddy Power Champions League of Darts, which will be held in Leicester on Saturday and Sunday as he challenges for the title, live on BBC Sport, from a group which includes Rob Cross, Daryl Gurney and Gerwyn Price.

"I'm looking forward to it," added Wright. "I lost to Gary [Anderson] in the final last year and he played fantastic. I beat MvG in the semis and that took it out of me.

"I approached the Champions League last year with a brand new set of darts and got to the final with them, but if I use these ones...

"The group I'm in, earlier in the season you'd say that wasn't a bad group because Daryl wasn't playing well, Gezzy wasn't and Rob wasn't quite on his game. Now, Rob's won the World Matchplay, Gezzy's playing fantastic and Daryl's not too shabby either. I'm the outsider and I'm not bad!"

Ratajski had been bidding to win a third Players Championship of the year himself, with his run to the final including some equally impressive darts as his eventual conqueror.

He averaged almost 107 in a superb 7-5 semi-final win over Gerwyn Price, missing double 18 for a nine-darter in that contest, while he took the deciding leg of his quarter-final with Jermaine Wattimena with a ten-darter.

Ratajski also averaged over 102 against Andrew Gilding and more than 96 in every match on his way to the decider, only for Wright to prove too strong.

Price landed a nine-dart finish during his run to the semi-finals, achieving perfection in the second round against Jonathan Worsley, before later averaging over 104 in a quarter-final win over Jonny Clayton.

Dutchman Noppert won through to his fourth Players Championship semi-final of the year, only to lose out to Wright.

Max Hopp recorded the day's highest average with a stunning 119.24 in his victory over Ian White, who replied with a 111 average in defeat in their last 32 contest.

Hopp, though, was subsequently knocked out by Andy Jenkins as the veteran star booked his place in the quarter-finals, while Monk, Clayton and Wattimena also reached the last eight.

Tuesday's event was the last ProTour event of 2019, with the field for the Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals and provisional qualifiers for the William Hill World Darts Championship now set to be confirmed.