Joe Cullen took home his fifth PDC title on day five of the PDC Winter Series.

The Rockstar struggled in his opening match of the day, but won the final 8-4 against Krzysztof Ratajski, hitting a 105 average.

It’s his second title in two months, having won the International Darts Open in Riesa in October. It means he will be the number 10 seed for the 2020 Players Championship Finals.

Elsewhere, day five of the Winter Series saw:

• Great runs to the semi finals from Kim Huybrechts and Andy Boulton
• Jermaine Wattimena qualify for the Grand Slam of Darts
• A nail biting climax to the qualification races for the Players Championship Finals and World Championship

Cullen keeps cool to claim fifth title

The Rockstar had impressed throughout the Winter Series, making semi finals earlier in the week. However, day five of the event did not start out well, as he trailed 5-0 to Justin Pipe. Despite this, Cullen survived a huge scare, fighting back to win 6-5 despite the Force having chances to win the match in four of the six legs.

This seemed to spark the Rockstar, as he came through 6-3 against Chris Dobey, and 6-4 against Niels Zonneveld to win his board. A 6-0 win against Boris Krcmar, another last leg victory against Daryl Gurney, followed by a semi final defeat of Andy Boulton 7-3, put him into the final against Ratajski.

The Polish Eagle, who’d averaged 112.7 in his quarter final victory over Adrian Lewis, started brighter. He held throw with ease, but could not take advantage of the chances he created on Cullen’s throw, meaning the match had six straight holds to start and was level at 3-3. Cullen then went to a higher gear, breaking throw with an 11 darter in the seventh leg, leaving 87 after nine.

It gave the Rockstar a 4-3 lead and he did not look back, effectively sealing the match in the 11th leg. Leading 6-4, he once again produced a massive scoring leg, pinging double 18 to take a 7-4 lead. Ratajski simply had no answers for Cullen, as the Englishman pinged a 74 for the match to win 8-4 and take home the final Pro Tour title of 2020.

What else happened?

Day five of the Winter Series saw the end of the races to qualify for the Players Championship Finals and the World Championships.

Adam Hunt’s run to the last 16 saw him qualify for both events, while the man he beat in the last 32, also qualified for the two tournaments.

Callan Rydz also made the field for both events, knocking number one seed Michael van Gerwen in round two.

Jesus Noguera and Karel Sedlacek were all one win away from qualifying for the Worlds, however could not do so on the Pro Tour Order of Merit. They still have a chance to qualify for the Worlds through the Tour Card Qualifier on Monday 30 November. Ryan Meikle will have to go through that way to make Ally Pally, after falling in the last 32. Meikle also missed out on the Players Championships Finals field by £250.

All this meant John Henderson was the last man to qualify for each event. The Highlander will return to Coventry later this month, and be part of the World Championships in December in London.

Elsewhere, big names such as:

• Daryl Gurney
• Adrian Lewis
• Chris Dobey
• Stephen Bunting
• Ian White

Among others, will not make the Grand Slam of Darts. Jermaine Wattimena had to wait until the semi finals, but losses for Kim Huybrechts and Andy Boulton meant that he took the Winter Series Order of Merit spot, for finishing as the highest player who had not yet qualified. Michael Smith, thanks to his two wins earlier in the week, topped the Order of Merit.

Day Five Results

Final

Joe Cullen v Krzysztof Ratajski

Semi Final

Krzysztof Ratajski 7-2 Kim Huybrechts

Joe Cullen 7-3 Andy Boulton

Quarter Final

Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Adrian Lewis

Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Ryan Joyce

Andy Boulton 6-5 Peter Wright

Joe Cullen 6-5 Daryl Gurney

Round Four

Adrian Lewis 6-3 Callan Rydz

Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Ritchie Edhouse

Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Nathan Aspinall

Ryan Joyce 6-2 Adam Hunt

Peter Wright 6-4 Dave Chisnall

Andy Boulton 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode

Daryl Gurney 6-1 Karel Sedlacek

Joe Cullen 6-0 Boris Krcmar

Round Three

Callan Rydz 6-3 Toni Alcinas

Adrian Lewis 6-2 Peter Jacques

Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Ron Meulenkamp

Ritchie Edhouse 6-4 Devon Petersen

Nathan Aspinall 6-5 Luke Woodhouse

Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Ryan Meikle

Ryan Joyce 6-3 Michael Smith

Adam Hunt 6-4 Darius Labanauskas

Peter Wright 6-1 William O’Connor

Dave Chisnall 6-2 David Evans

Andy Boulton v Jason Lowe

Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Ian White

Karel Sedlacek 6-4 Jesus Noguera

Daryl Gurney 6-4 Brendan Dolan

Joe Cullen 6-4 Neils Zonneveld

Boris Krcmar 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena

Round Two

Callan Rydz 6-4 Michael van Gerwen

Toni Alcinas 6-1 Ricky Evans

Adrian Lewis 6-2 Conan Whitehead

Peter Jacques 6-3 Gabriel Clemens

Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Keegan Brown

Ron Meulenkamp 6-2 Christian Bunse

Devon Petersen 6-4 Jan Dekker

Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 Vincent van der Voort

Nathan Aspinall 6-2 Derk Telenkes

Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Mickey Mansell

Ryan Meikle 6-3 Nick Kenny

Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Stephen Bunting

Michael Smith 6-4 Keane Barry

Ryan Joyce 6-3 Ryan Murray

Darius Labanauskas 6-5 Daniel Larsson

Adam Hunt 6-0 Dimitri Van den Bergh

Peter Wright 6-1 Steve Brown

William O’Connor 6-4 Bradley Brooks

Dave Chisnall 6-3 Steve Lennon

David Evans 6-5 Jonny Clayton

Andy Boulton 6-5 James Wade

Jason Lowe 6-4 Wayne Jones

Ian White 6-5 Lisa Ashton

Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-5 Jelle Klaasen

Karel Sedlacek 6-5 Jose De Sousa

Jesus Noguera 6-1 Josh Payne

Brendan Dolan 6-1 Kirk Shepherd

Daryl Gurney 6-5 Joe Murnan

Joe Cullen 6-3 Chris Dobey

Niels Zonneveld 6-2 James Wilson

Boris Krcmar 6-5 Danny Noppert

Jermaine Wattimena 6-1 Scott Waites

Round One

Callan Rydz 6-3 John Michael

Ricky Evans 6-1 Simon Stevenson

Toni Alcinas 6-3 Luke Humphries

Adrian Lewis 6-5 Ryan Searle

Conan Whitehead 6-2 Scott Taylor

Gabriel Clemens 6-3 Ted Evetts

Peter Jacques 6-4 Kai Fan Leung

Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Michael Barnard

Keegan Brown 6-1 Krzysztof Kciuk

Ron Meulenkamp 6-5 Ross Smith

Christian Bunse 6-5 Martin Atkins (Wigan)

Devon Petersen 6-4 Matt Clark

Jan Dekker 6-5 Darren Penhall

Vincent van der Voort 6-3 Jeffrey De Zwaan

Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 David Pallett

Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Jim Williams

Derk Telenkes 6-2 Maikel Verberk

Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Jeff Smith

Mickey Mansell 6-4 Aaron Beeney

Nick Kenny 6-5 Damon Heta

Ryan Meikle 6-5 Martin Schindler

Stephen Bunting 6-3 William Borland

Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Robert Thornton

Michael Smith 6-3 Steve Beaton

Keane Barry 6-5 Matthew Dennant

Ryan Joyce 6-1 Gavin Carlin

Ryan Murray 6-0 Adrian Gray

Daniel Larsson 6-5 Glen Durrant

Darius Labanauskas 6-2 Carl Wilkinson

Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Jamie Hughes

Adam Hunt 6-0 Barrie Bates

Steve Brown 6-5 Max Hopp

William O’Connor 6-3 Benito van de Pas

Bradley Brooks 6-2 Richard North

Dave Chisnall 6-0 Marko Kantele

Steve Lennon 6-3 Mike De Decker

Jonny Clayton 6-1 Ciaran Teehan

David Evans 6-2 Richie Burnett

James Wade 6-4 Andy Hamilton

Andy Boulton 6-1 Alan Tabern

Jason Lowe 6-4 Madars Razma

Wayne Jones 6-4 Rowby-John Rodriguez

Ian White 6-5 Gary Blades

Lisa Ashton 6-3 John Henderson

Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Scott Mitchell

Jelle Klaasen 6-4 Mark McGeeney

Karel Sedlacek 6-2 Scott Baker

Jesus Noguera 6-2 Maik Kuivenhoven

Josh Payne 6-5 Steve West

Brendan Dolan 6-2 Jitse Van der Wal

Kirk Shepherd 6-3 Kevin Doets

Daryl Gurney WALKOVER Jonathan Worsley

Joe Murnan 6-5 Robert Collins

Joe Cullen 6-5 Justin Pipe

Chris Dobey 6-2 Reece Robinson

James Wilson 6-3 Martijn Kleermaker

Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Matthew Edgar

Danny Nopper 6-0 Yordi Meeuwisse

Boris Krcmar 6-3 Harald Leitinger

Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Darren Webster

Scott Waites 6-2 Simon Whitlock

 

Peter Wright, Michael van Gerwen and Jose De Sousa received byes into round two. Mervyn King, Rob Cross and Gerwyn Price all withdrew from the event.