A former champion and finalist have been sent packing at the World Grand Prix with James Wade and Raymond van Barneveld among the leading attractions on the opening night, but out in the very first round in Leicester.
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Krzysztof Ratajski battled his way to a deciding set victory over the two-time champion Wade in a 2-1 victory with 'The Polish Eagle' continuing a trend of all prior matches coming from a set down to win.
Wade conjured up a 132 checkout on double 20 to open his account to begin the opening set and went into three consecutive legs to go a set up as Ratajski was having a night to forget early on.
Ratajski though in going off stage produced a clean sweep to level up proceedings in set two against 'The Machine'. Wade went towards the brink with a 121 checkout on the bull to go one away. But the key was back-to-back legs as Ratajski sent it all the way before sealing the deal.
While Raymond van Barneveld also fell by the wayside on his World Grand Prix return in a first win in the tournament for Martin Schindler. The German sent the five-time World Champion packing in a 2-1 sets win.
After going 2-0 down in the opening set, Schindler struck first including a 160 checkout to seal the opener against Van Barneveld who was struggling early on.
Schindler could've won it in the second set squandering two match darts and the Dutchman pinned double 20 to send the match into a final set. But Schindler produced when it mattered most in the latter half of the tie to seal in a third set decider.
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RATAJSKI WINS! 🇵🇱
What a fightback!
Krzysztof Ratajski recovers from 2-0 down in the final set to dump out two-time World Grand Prix champion James Wade!
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