Krzysztof Ratajski will take on world number two Luke Humphries at the Poland Darts Open later today, after marking his return to home soil with victory in Krak\u00f3w.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The PDC European Tour’s first visit to Poland saw Ratajski take centre stage on the opening day at the EXPO, courtesy of a clinical 6-3 victory over former Grand Slam of Darts semi-finalist Mickey Mansell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ratajski \u2013 roared on by a partisan home crowd \u2013 defied an average of almost 99 from Mansell to progress, producing a typically efficient display to set up a blockbuster clash with Humphries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This was one of the most valuable wins in my career, for sure,”\u00a0insisted Ratajski, a World Championship quarter-finalist last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I was very nervous tonight. The expectation was high, but I played my game and I’m really happy I won for this great crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Of course I want to win [against Humphries]. This will be something special, but I will prepare like I always do for every game.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Andrew Gilding produced the performance of the day in Krak\u00f3w, reeling off six consecutive legs from 3-0 adrift to stun Sweden’s number one Jeffrey de Graaf with a 106.55 average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gilding will now take on Dutch number one Gian van Veen in round two, while William O’Connor also accounted for Swedish opposition, defeating Andreas Harrysson in a high-quality affair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The day also featured a terrific win for Connor Scutt, who withstood a stirring mid-game fightback from Damon Heta to register his second victory on the European Tour stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite trailing 4-0, Heta followed up 11 and 12-dart breaks with a 167 finish to level at four apiece, only for Scutt to respond with a 106 kill alongside a 12-darter to wrap up proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wessel Nijman will go head-to-head with Gary Anderson in one of Saturday’s stand-out ties, after the Dutchman maintained his bright start to 2026 with a 6-3 victory against Thomas Lovely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Dirk van Duijvenbode’s late flurry against Adam Gawlas came in vain, as the Czech youngster prevailed by the same scoreline to book a tie against current Premier League leader Jonny Clayton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was a continental flavour to Friday’s action, as Spanish star Cristo Reyes landed six 180s and pinned 60% of his attempts at double to dump out Niko Springer on his European Tour return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Belgian number one Mike De Decker was another high-profile name to advance, battling past European Tour debutant Marvin Kraft to create a fascinating encounter against world number one Luke Littler on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Croatia’s Boris Krcmar, meanwhile, averaged 102.44 to deny an impressive Ryan Joyce and move through to a clash with German number one Martin Schindler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cameron Menzies and James Wade will also collide for a place in the last 16, after the Scot crashed in nine 180s to complete a 6-4 success against former European Champion Ritchie Edhouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Darryl Pilgrim claimed the scalp of a profligate Dave Chisnall to set up a showdown against Nathan Aspinall, while Luke Woodhouse ran out a convincing 6-2 winner against Carl Sneyd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite Ratajski’s victory, the remaining four Polish stars all suffered opening round exits, as Joe Cullen, Daryl Gurney, Jermaine Wattimena and Niels Zonneveld completed the round two line-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cullen will renew his rivalry with former World Champion Michael Smith after overcoming Krzysztof Kciuk with a 99 average, while Gurney breezed to an emphatic 6-1 win over debutant Dawid Robak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dutch duo Wattimena and Zonneveld also prevailed on a bumper day in Krak\u00f3w, defeating big stage newcomers Miroslaw Grudziecki and Piotr Maciejczak respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Round Two will take place across two sessions, with Littler, Humphries and Van Veen amongst the star attractions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
RESULTS<\/strong> Krzysztof Ratajski will take on world number two Luke Humphries at the Poland Darts Open later today, after<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-9687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
Round One
<\/strong>Cameron Menzies 6-4 Ritchie Edhouse
William O’Connor 6-4 Andreas Harrysson
Boris Krcmar 6-3 Ryan Joyce\u00a0
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Carl Sneyd
Niels Zonneveld 6-2 Piotr Maciejczak
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Jeffrey de Graaf
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Miroslaw Grudziecki
Darryl Pilgrim 6-4 Dave Chisnall
<\/strong>Wessel Nijman 6-3 Thomas Lovely
Daryl Gurney 6-1 Dawid Robak
Connor Scutt 6-4 Damon Heta
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Mickey Mansell
Adam Gawlas 6-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Cristo Reyes 6-3 Niko Springer
Joe Cullen 6-2 Krzysztof Kciuk
Mike De Decker 6-4 Marvin Kraft<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"