Epic Cullen comeback denies van Veen to clinch Players Championship 5

Joe Cullen defeated Gian van Veen in Tuesday’s Players Championship Five final in Leicester after mounting an incredible comeback from a 7–4 deficit.

At the Mattioli Arena, Cullen returned from the canvas to deny the young Dutchman his first PDC ranking title. He achieved his first Players Championship title since February 2022 by average 104.18 and hitting nine maximums.

After finishing as a finalist in the year’s inaugural ProTour event last month, the former Masters champion continued his comeback in the East Midlands to win his first PDC championship in more than two years.

 

“I think this is the best win of my career, because of the adversity I have had to endure over the last year,” reflected an emotional Cullen.

“When you’re slipping down the rankings and you’re doubting yourself, there is nothing worse in darts.

“I had all-sorts going on away from darts and I wasn’t practising. There was no motivation there and that’s why I slid down the rankings, but ultimately the buck stops with me.

“I think I’m down to number 22 in the world. There’s not 21 players that are better than me in the world, but the rankings don’t lie.

“I’m there for a reason, but I am doing everything I can to get myself back up those rankings!”

Cullen began his campaign with a difficult 6-3 victory over Richard Veenstra, but he quickly rediscovered his range, putting up a ton-plus average in his second round triumph over James Hurrell.

He then stunned world number one Luke Humphries with four consecutive legs from 4-2 down, before defeating Dutch team Christian Kist and Kevin Doets to go to the semi-finals.

There, he delivered a remarkable ten-dart leg to complete a 7-5 victory over World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker, setting up his match versus Van Veen.

The pair were perfect on the outer ring for the opening nine sets of Tuesday’s showdown, with Van Veen claiming six of eight legs to take a 6-4 lead.

The Dutchman then pinned double ten to lead 7-4, but Cullen’s third 11-darter of the match in leg 12 launched an unlikely comeback.

Cullen survived six match darts in the final three legs, four of which came in a tense last-leg shoot-out, and completed the comeback with a nerveless two-dart 67 outshot.

Despite the deciding leg heartbreak, Van Veen played admirably in Leicester, defeating Michael van Gerwen and Luke Littler on his way to the £10,000 runner-up prize.

The World Youth Champion advanced to the last 16 with three 6-1 victories over Stefan Bellmont, Greg Ritchie, and Adam Lipscombe, averaging 106, 101, and 98, respectively.

Following his 6-3 victory over Dom Taylor in round four, Van Veen averaged 108 to win a thrilling all-Dutch quarterfinal against Van Gerwen, collecting five 180s in the process.

Van Veen later stopped Littler’s 19-match winning streak in an incredible semi-final, following up 110 and 127 checkouts with a game-winning 121 on the bull in the final.

Littler had secured his spot in the final four with a ruthless 6-1 demolition of Damon Heta, rattling off six straight legs in 12, 12, 11, 13, 13, and 11 darts to win with an astonishing 122.93 average.

Littler also won a hat-trick of 6-5 victory over Niko Springer, Adam Hunt, and Dirk van Duijvenbode, coming back from 3-0 and 4-0 deficits against Springer and Van Duijvenbode, respectively, and striking a nine-dart finish in his win over Hunt.

The World Champion was joined in Tuesday’s semi-finals by De Decker, his opponent in Sunday’s Belgian Darts Open final in Wieze.

The Belgian averaged 103 in his first-round victory over Dennie Olde Kalter before overcoming Rusty-Jake Rodriguez, Thomas Lovely, Sebastian Bialecki, and Rob Owen to advance to the last four.

Owen joined Doets, Heta, and Van Gerwen in the quarter-finals, having previously defeated Jelle Klaasen and Max Hopp with averages of 108 and 111.

James Wade, the UK Open runner-up, also shone at the Mattioli Arena, averaging 115.92 in his second-round triumph over two-time Women’s World Matchplay champion Beau Greaves.

Gary Anderson blasted the day’s other nine-darter, hitting perfection in the penultimate leg of his opening round match against Ryan Joyce.

 

Epic Cullen comeback denies van Veen to clinch Players Championship 5

Tuesday March 11

Mattioli Arena, Leicester

Last 16

Gian van Veen 6-3 Dom Taylor

Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Lukas Wenig

Luke Littler 6-2 Scott Williams

Damon Heta 6-3 Martin Lukeman

Mike De Decker 6-3 Sebastian Bialecki

Rob Owen 6-5 Gary Anderson

Joe Cullen 6-2 Christian Kist

Kevin Doets 6-5 James Wade

 

Quarter-Finals

Gian van Veen 6-4 Michael van Gerwen

Luke Littler 6-1 Damon Heta

Mike De Decker 6-2 Rob Owen

Joe Cullen 6-3 Kevin Doets

 

Semi-Finals

Gian van Veen 7-6 Luke Littler

Joe Cullen 7-5 Mike De Decker

 

Final

Joe Cullen 8-7 Gian van Veen

 

Nine-Darters

Gary Anderson hit a nine-darter in his first round tie against Ryan Joyce.

Luke Littler hit a nine-darter in his second round tie against Adam Hunt.