In 2015, Joe Murnan did something nobody ever thought plausible when he won a PDC ranking title without having a Tour Card. He was the first man to ever do so, and this was indeed the only time he ever won a title on darts’ ProTour.
Three years later, Krzysztof Ratajski replicated the achievement, and then followed it up the next day, winning back-to-back titles at the end of the 2018 Players Championship season. This time it led to a rule change, bringing about the so called ‘Ratajski Rule’, where, should a player win a ranking title without a Tour Card, they would become first reserve for the remaining Players Championships’ that year, rather than the leader of the Challenge Tour.
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It was a rule that was never really necessary, as Krzysztof Ratajski did it in the last block events of the season, and then the only two players to do it since – Scott Williams in 2022, and Wesley Plaisier in 2024 – were both in the top two of the Challenge Tour for the entire season, therefore guaranteed to get call-ups to every event anyway.
This all changed yesterday, when a 20-year-old from Derbyshire got call-ups to Events 25 and 26 in Hildesheim. Following the trend of all the non-UK events, 21 Tour Card Holders chose to withdraw from the double header. This gave chances to a lot of players from the Challenge Tour, going all the way down to Ben Townley, sat in 29th spot on the Order of Merit.
This meant a chance for Henry Coates to impress.
Coates sat in twelfth on the Challenge Tour, so he’d only gotten a call-up in eight of the previous 24 events, despite an impressive run to the Semi-Finals of Event 20.
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‘Treble H’ went on to achieve something he didn’t think possible, beating the likes of Karel Sedlacek, Jeffrey de Graaf and Damon Heta to join the club Murnan (above) started, and claim the title in Hildesheim, averaging over 104 in three of his last four matches. This also meant that Henry rose into the provisional spots for the World Championships and the Players Championship Finals.
With him being twelfth on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit, there would be a chance that he might not get enough opportunities in the final eight events to make the most of this brilliant position, but this is where the ‘Ratajski Rule’ is finally put to good use.
Henry Coates will now be the first name on the reserve list for the remaining events in 2026, giving him a brilliant chance to make his debut at both Alexandra Palace and the Players Championship Finals at Minehead, something that he wouldn’t have gotten if he’d have lost that Final.
Moreover, he has also given himself a shot at reaching the Grand Slam of Darts, currently sitting in one of the final provisional spots as a ProTour title winner.
There is, of course, the knock effects on the top section of the Challenge Tour to be noted. With the possibility of their being an effect on the rankings, and possible Tour Cards and qualification spots, on that tier tour.
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It is intriguing to see this rule finally used on someone that needs it, and I’m sure most of the darts world will be curious to see if Henry Coates can make the most of it!
Images: Tip Top Pics (main)
