Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski crowned Men’s Winmau World Master as Lorraine Winstanley lifts Ladies title
Image Courtesy of David Gill - DGMedia
Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski has been crowned 2017 Winmau World Masters champion following a stunning display at the world’s longest running darts major held at The Bridlington Spa earlier this week.
Ranked 31 by the British Darts Organisation (BDO) going into the event, Ratajski had to battle his way through the floor heats to qualify for the stage rounds. That task complete, he beat 11th seed Dutchman Richard Veenstra and Scotland’s Alan Souter to progress to the quarter-finals.
Standing in this way was defending and two-time, back-to-back World Master, and current world champion, Glen Durrant. Having dropped only one set since making the last 64, Ratajski, never looked phased as he ran out 4-2 winner.
That win set up a semi-final against number eight seed Cameron Menzies who qualified for the World Masters on the back of some stunning recent form and had beaten Welshman Jim Williams 4-0 in his quarter final.
Once again, Ratajski, who plays under the nickname of ‘The Polish Eagle’ showed no respect for reputation as he powered through the finals with a nerveless 5-1 display.
In true David and Goliath style, waiting for him was number one seed Mark McGeeney whose path to the final had been less smooth. He overcame qualifier Neil Duff 3-2 in a close fought last 16 match and although he beat Welsh seed and 2014 World Master Martin Philips 4-0 in the quarter-finals, another qualifier, Germany’s Gabriel Clemens pushed him to the last set in the semis.
If he had any big stage nerves they didn’t show as Ratajski stormed through the early stages of the best-of-11 set final, taking a 4-1 lead at the interval. The break came at just the right time for McGeeney who desperately need to re-group. However, the Polish Eagle picked up where he left off when play resumed, taking the sixth set to lead 5-1.
Many a player has managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat when in similar positions, and McGeeney’s last hope was that he would be able to exploit any nerves the Pole was feeling as the finishing line loomed. However, it wasn’t to be. Ratajski hit double nine to win the first leg and then double 16 at the first attempt to wrap up an emphatic 6-1 win and lift the Winmau World Master Crown.
Just as Ratajski had the best day of his darting life, so too did England’s Lorraine Winstanley as she picked up her first darts major with the Ladies World Masters title. Seeded number three, Winstanley brushed aside Norwegian qualifier Rachna David at the last 16 stage four legs to nil.
That win set up a quarter-final clash with sixth seeded Russian Anastasia Dobromyslova. In one of the games of the Ladies event, Winstanley won a mesmerising contest on the last leg, ending up with an impressive 28.31 per darts average.
With number one seed Deta Hedman, and 2016 World Master Trina Gulliver MBE falling at the quarter-finals, Winstanley took to the Bridlington Spa stage as the new favourite. She had to overcome a spirited performance from floor qualifier Tricia Wright in the semis, but never looked in trouble as she secured her place in the final with a win four legs to two.
Meeting her there was Australia’s Corrine Hammond, who’d had to rely on last leg wins at the last 16 and quarter final stages to overcome Rhian Griffiths from Wales and Japan’s Mikuru Suzuki. She hit her stride in the semi-final though with a confidence boosting 4-0 win over Sarah Roberts, who had put Deta Hedman out earlier in the day.
The early exchanges were defined by powerful scoring from the Australian but better finishing by Winstanley. After four of the nine leg final, the players were locked at 2-2. Eventually though, the English player found her scoring and managed to maintain her quality on the doubles. As a result, she ran through the next three legs to secure a 5-2 win.
Earlier in the day, the finals of the Winmau World Disability Darts Association (WDDA) World Masters was fought between WDDA ranked six and seven players Phil ‘Buzz’ Lees and Kev ‘Tick Tock’ Turner respectively. Taking an early 2-0 lead in the first to 3 leg finals, Lees, who was celebrating his 56th birthday, hit back with the third leg.
Turner however looked to seal the trophy 3-1 when he left himself on a tricky double three in what he hoped would be the final leg, Lees would have fancied his chances of pulling closer once again. It wasn’t to be though as Turner pinned the double three first dart to lift the trophy.
The quality of play in the Boys and Girls World Masters event was just as impressive with many future stars on show. For the Boys, Germany’s Nico Blum battled through a field of 128 players to overcome Ireland’s Keane Barry in a tense final which went to the last leg. He finished with an average of 25.53 against Barry’s 26.58.
For the Girls, England’s Beau Greaves finished off an almost faultless tournament with a 4-0 win over Ireland’s Katie Sheldon, averaging 21.32.
“Once again, the World Masters has produced some mesmeric darts,” said Winmau Sales and Marketing director, Ian Flack. “This year’s event was the 44th time the tournament has been held and there have just as many shocks and surprises as any other year.”
“The format is a real challenge for some of the world’s best players and pays no respect to seeded players. Krzysztof and Lorraine played some awesome darts to win their first majors. For the juniors, with Beau and Nico, the future of our sport is in great hands. And in the WDDA World Masters final, Kev and Phil showed that disability is no barrier to great darts."
Full Results and statistics are available from the BDO website: http://bdodarts.com/wmwp17.php
