Yorkshire’s finest, Joe Cullen bagged his second Players Championship title of the season with a dramatic last-leg squeaker against Gerwyn Price.
The win looks like it will drag the former Masters champ into a spot at the upcoming World Grand Prix. With the Leicester cut-off looming, the Rockstar left it to the last possible minute. And while we could spend hours running countless algorithms, the short version is: the Bradford born chucker has almost certainly done enough.
As for Price, the whole trek was something of a happy accident. He admitted after winning yesterday that he hadn’t even planned on flying over to compete. Recently, The Iceman’s swollen hand forced with to withdraw from UK floor events. Once it shrunk back down to a manageable size, he figured he’d pop over to Germany, throw some darts, and pocket north of £20k. A nice twist of irony.Back to Cullen.
With only today and a couple of Euro Tours left to try and sneak into the Grand Prix – one of which he’s not even in yet – a deep run was absolutely crucial. Well, you can’t exactly go deeper than walking away undefeated can you? After dispatching Brendan Dolan early doors, Joe strung together four consecutive 6-4 wins over Adam Hunt, Cameron Menzies, Robert Grundy, and James Hurrell to reach the semis.
Scott Williams was meant to be a real test. On paper, maybe. In reality, Cullen steamrolled him 7-1. Shaggy was also chasing a Grand Prix spot, but at the start of the afternoon, his mountain was far steeper than Joe’s. The final against Price was a good battle but ended ugly – the kind of leg where neither man looked entirely sure they wanted it. Spoiler: they did.
Eventually, after far too many visits, Cullen staggered over the line to claim his ninth career Players Championship title – and his first outside the UK.There were absentees, of course. There always are when the darts circus rolls into an ex-aircraft hangar in the middle of nowhere.
Plenty of big names didn’t fancy the trip, which left the door ajar for the hopefuls. Step forward Michael Unterbuchner – whose name sounds like he should be running quality control at Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory – and Dutchman Alexander Merkx, possibly the only player in darting history whose name contains two Xs. Go on, prove me wrong. Both made semi-final runs and both looked absolutely delighted with themselves.
Michael Smith, on the other hand, looked less than thrilled. Bully Boy did get one win under his belt, before Mr. Unterbuchner slammed the door shut. At nearly £10k adrift of the Grand Prix spots, only a Euro Tour title would save him – and he’s not even qualified for the two that matter.
Tomorrow, quite literally, is make-or-break for him as far as that tournament goes where he would be defending £40k. .Biggest average of the day went to German thrower Dominik Gruellich, who casually rattled in a monstrous 108.65 while whitewashing Chizzy.
Scott Williams, meanwhile, stayed true to his entertainer tag. As well as that semi-final run, he threw in a Jose special – winning a leg on three tops – which at least brought a wry smile out of opponent, Dom Taylor.
Speaking of Jose, a word of sympathy: his absence in Germany was due to the passing of his mother. Thoughts are with the De Sousa family.And that’s your lot from this brace of Players Championships.
Two Euro Tour qualifiers wrap things up in Hildesheim, and for anyone still dreaming of the World Grand Prix, those chasing places in Hungary and Switzerland at the end of the month – it’s the last chance saloon. Miss it, and you’re not on the ride.
