Krzysztof Ratajski shot up to 20th in the PDC Werner Rankings Ladder after scooping his third European Tour title at the Elten Safety Shoes European Darts Open on Sunday. Ratajski claimed a 12th PDC ranking title in Leverkusen to add more silverware to his trophy cabinet, pocketing £35,000 in the process. The Polish number one […]
Krzysztof Ratajski shot up to 20th in the PDC Werner Rankings Ladder after scooping his third European Tour title at the Elten Safety Shoes European Darts Open on Sunday.
Ratajski claimed a 12th PDC ranking title in Leverkusen to add more silverware to his trophy cabinet, pocketing £35,000 in the process.
The Polish number one subsequently moved up three spots in the world ranking above Rob Cross, Mike De Decker and Damon Heta, returning into the world’s top 20 for the first time in over three years.
The 49-year-old has bagged over £84,000 since April, a number that can only be bettered by Wessel Nijman, Ross Smith, Luke Woodhouse and Kevin Doets.
There was further Polish progress for Ratajski’s World Cup Sebastian Bialecki, who reached a maiden European Tour semi-final to climb four spots to 60th in the world rankings.
The 22-year-old – who was close to qualifying for the World Matchplay later this month after a stellar year on the ProTour – continued his strong form to secure £10,000 after reaching the last four in Leverkusen.
Bialecki has risen nine spots since the beginning of the year, while he is now no longer eligible to play on the Development Tour after entering the top 64 in the world.
The Polish number two is the second-best performing 2025/26 Tour Card Holder behind Karel Sedlacek, and will now be feeling increasingly confident of securing a Tour Card for next year.
Max Hopp moved up one spot to 66th in the world rankings after securing a 6-3 win against Rob Cross at the European Darts Open to creep towards a top 64 spot.
The former World Youth Champion also reached a Players Championship final in June, and has risen four spots since the turn of the year.
Despite reaching the semi-finals in Leverkusen, Heta fell to 23rd in the world rankings as a result of Ratajski’s triumph.
The Australian number one has dropped six places in 2026, as despite reaching three European Tour semi-finals this year, he has failed or progress to the last 16 in all 24 Players Championship events so far this year.
De Decker also fell one place to 22nd, failing to win his opening European Tour match for the eighth time in ten events this year.
The Belgian number one has failed to make major inroads this year, having made the quarter-finals in just two ProTour events so far in 2026, and will lose £120,000 from his ranking tally by the World Grand Prix in September.
Mario Vandenbogaerde fell to 67th following his opening round defeat at the European Darts Open last weekend, as the Belgian faces an uphill battle to keep his Tour Card by the end of the year.
Ryan Meikle, Lukas Wenig and Nick Kenny all also fell one place after Bialecki’s successful weekend, with all three players remaining just inside the top 64.