Krzysztof Ratajski completes whitewash win to pile pressure on rivals in World Grand Prix race as Andrew Gilding fails to progress in Swiss Darts Trophy

The stakes are higher than ever in Basel for the Swiss Darts Trophy, with select players trying to confirm their place in the World Grand Prix. Krzysztof Ratajski was the biggest winner after boosting his chances by rising into the provisional qualifying slots.

Ratajski was fortunate to come up against a lacklustre Owen Bates, who averaged below 80 in a 6-0 victory for The Polish Eagle. He struggled on the doubles at times, missing 11 darts on the outer ring, but his scoring was good enough to keep his opponent at arm's length throughout.

This win gives Ratajski an important buffer ahead of William O'Connor and Raymond van Barneveld, who are now very much under the kosh to pick up wins in their opening round matches this evening, now looking at a quarter-final to keep their hopes alive. Ratajski has also jumped back into the top 32 for the European Championships in Dortmund.

Niels Zonneveld's extremely slim hopes of venturing to the Grand Prix took a positive turn after coming out on top against Eastern European qualifier Dalibor Smolik 6-3. Triple Z found a break of throw halfway through the match, but could not shake off his Czech opponent. Unfortunately, missed doubles at key times cost him the chance of getting back into the tie, as Zonneveld moves on. The Dutchman needs a quarter-final at least to keep his Grand Prix dreams intact.

Ricardo Pietreczko also needs a near-perfect weekend to send himself to Leicester. He commenced his tournament with a 6-3 win over Swede Oskar Lukasiak. He pinned back-to-back ton+ finishes early on, before missing his only doubles in the match to allow Lukasiak back into the match. From then on, he was perfect, winning the match with a clinical 121 checkout on double 18.

Andrew Gilding suffered back-to-back opening round defeats on the European Tour after losing 6-3 against Cor Dekker. Goldfinger stormed out to a positive start, but lost three consecutive legs on the bounce, with his scoring vanishing. Dekker remained in front and clinched the win after Gilding missed numerous darts around the board. It is the Norwegian's second win on the Euro Tour.

It was a close battle between Luke Woodhouse and Lukas Wenig, and despite not leading at any point throughout the match, Woody scraped in front in a last-leg decider to win 6-5 and advance. The German squandered the chance of having match darts late on and was consequently punished.

Callan Rydz took no time in dumping out Connor Scutt. The Riot averaged over a ton in his first Euro Tour win since this event last year, where he made the semi-final. It was also a walk in the park for Ryan Joyce, who knocked out home-nation qualifier Rocco Fulciniti 6-0.

Mensur Suljovic rolled back the years with a solid 6-2 win over the 2024 Grand Slam runner-up Martin Lukeman. The Austrian utilised his favourite double 14 twice in three legs to find himself 3-1 ahead. He would extend his lead to 5-1 before Lukeman woke up and found a 12 darter to keep his hopes alive. It would not happen for him though, as an overjoyed Suljovic progressed.