Joe Cullen claims Players Championship Three title
Joe Cullen secured his ninth PDC title at Players Championship Three in Wigan with an 8-4 victory over Damon Heta in the final.
Less than 48 hours after losing in the final of Night Two of the Premier League, Masters Champion Cullen picked up his second title of 2022 at the Robin Park Sports Centre.
The world number 11 was far from at his brilliant best for most of the day, but continued his winning form to land the £12,000 top prize.
An average of just 82 was sufficient for Cullen to see off Florian Hempel 6-2 in Round One before thrashing Australia’s Gordon Mathers 6-1 with an 85 average.
He then overcame Vincent van der Voort 6-2 before dispatching Daryl Gurney 6-4 to reach the Quarter-Finals – where he took out 144 in the deciding leg to edge out Jose de Sousa.
The Semi-Finals saw Cullen end the landmark run of new Tour Card holder Connor Scutt with a 7-5 success, having recovered from 4-2 behind.
Cullen dominated the early stages of the final, establishing leads of 2-0 and 5-1 before the Australian ace pegged back to 5-4 adrift.
The tenth leg proved crucial as Heta missed his chance to level, with Cullen capitalising to restore breathing space before winning the next two to close out the title.
“I’ve been absolutely terrible all day,” admitted Cullen. “In the final against Damon I knew he was playing well and I just tried to stick with him. I stayed in front and it was enough.
“That’s genuinely more satisfying than playing with big ton-plus averages when you can grind results out like that.
“It’s been a tough slog today but to win it is amazing.
“I think this is my best ProTour win yet, because I was terrible.”
Heta was bidding to claim his second Players Championship title, having defeated Cullen in the final to open his account in 2020.
The Australian was in outstanding form throughout Saturday’s event, following up a 99 average in his opening win over Josh Rock with five ton-plus averages.
They included a memorable 109 average in a 7-4 Semi-Final win over Michael van Gerwen, while he also defied a nine-darter from Canada’s Matt Campbell in claiming a 6-4 Second Round success.
Van Gerwen saw off Dutch rival Raymond van Barneveld and reigning UK Open champion James Wade during his run to the Last Four.
Scutt enjoyed am encouraging run to the semis only a month after securing his PDC Tour Card at Qualifying School, while fellow young gun Keane Barry joined former ProTour event winners De Sousa, Wade and Joe Murnan in the Quarter-Finals.
World number one Gerwyn Price joined Premier League rivals Jonny Clayton and Michael Smith as well as European Champion Rob Cross in suffering shock First Round exits.
Peter Wright missed the opportunity to move into the world number one spot as he went down 6-5 to Max Hopp in the Second Round, missing two match darts in the process.
The ProTour action continues on Sunday with Players Championship Four, with the 128 players competing for £100,000 in prize money.
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Players Championship Three Results
Saturday February 12
First Round
Keegan Brown 6-5 Gerwyn Price
Kevin Doets 6-1 Ross Montgomery
Scott Mitchell 6-3 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Steve West 6-5 John Henderson
Callan Rydz 6-3 John O’Shea
Martin Lukeman 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
James Wade 6-4 Jeff Smith
Jim Williams 6-2 Adam Gawlas
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Darius Labanauskas
William O’Connor 6-5 Krzysztof Kciuk
Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Brian Raman 6-5 Darren Webster
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-4 Luke Humphries
Niels Zonneveld 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Nathan Rafferty 6-3 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Joe Murnan 6-2 Michael Smith
Jamie Clark 6-3 Mickey Mansell
Adrian Lewis 6-0 Damian Mol
Ron Meulenkamp 6-5 Berry van Peer
Jason Lowe 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Jamie Hughes 6-5 Shaun Wilkinson
Steve Beaton 6-2 Chris Dobey
Madars Razma 6-3 David Evans
Tony Martinez 6-5 Jonny Clayton
Alan Soutar 6-3 Danny Jansen
Geert Nentjes 6-4 Mervyn King
Boris Krcmar 6-4 John Michael
Damon Heta 6-4 Josh Rock
Matt Campbell 6-3 Geert De Vos
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Ritchie Edhouse
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Brett Claydon
Peter Wright 6-5 Devon Petersen
Max Hopp 6-4 Bradley Brooks
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Stu Wilson
Steve Haggerty 6-5 Ted Evetts
Jim McEwan 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Radek Szaganski 6-0 John Brown
Cameron Menzies 6-4 Ross Smith
Keane Barry 6-2 Adam Hunt
Ryan Searle 6-4 Ricky Evans
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-0 Glen Durrant
Mensur Suljovic 6-5 William Borland
Scott Williams 6-4 Scott Waites
Jon Worsley 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Eddie Lovely 6-5 Jake Jones
Martin Schindler 6-2 Jimmy Hendriks
Connor Scutt 6-4 Jules van Dongen
Jose de Sousa 6-1 Peter Hudson
Ryan Meikle 6-2 James Wilson
Lee Evans 6-5 Ryan Joyce
Jack Main 6-5 Boris Koltsov
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-2 Ian White
Lewy Williams 6-4 Jason Heaver
Jose Justicia 6-3 Gabriel Clemens
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-3 Nick Fullwell
Joe Cullen 6-2 Florian Hempel
Gordon Mathers 6-0 Richie Burnett
Vincent van der Voort 6-2 Mike De Decker
Gary Anderson 6-3 Luc Peters
George Killington 6-1 Rob Cross
Andy Boulton 6-5 Martijn Kleermaker
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Danny Baggish
Steve Lennon 6-2 Kevin Burness
Second Round
Kevin Doets 6-4 Keegan Brown
Steve West 6-1 Scott Mitchell
Martin Lukeman 6-5 Callan Rydz
James Wade 6-4 Jim Williams
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 William O’Connor
Raymond van Barneveld 6-1 Brian Raman
Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Nathan Rafferty
Joe Murnan 6-5 Jamie Clark
Ron Meulenkamp 6-3 Adrian Lewis
Jamie Hughes 6-5 Jason Lowe
Madars Razma 6-3 Steve Beaton
Alan Soutar 6-1 Tony Martinez
Boris Krcmar 6-2 Geert Nentjes
Damon Heta 6-4 Matt Campbell – *Campbell hits a nine-darter*
Stephen Bunting 6 -3 Simon Whitlock
Max Hopp 6-5 Peter Wright
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Steve Haggerty
Jim McEwan 6- 4 Radek Szaganski
Keane Barry 6-5 Cameron Menzies
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-3 Ryan Searle
Scott Williams 6-4 Mensur Suljovic
Jon Worsley 6-3 Eddie Lovely
Connor Scutt 6-5 Martin Schindler
Jose de Sousa 6-4 Ryan Meikle
Lee Evans 6-5 Jack Main
Lewy Williams 6-5 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Jose Justicia 6-5 Ricardo Pietreczko
Joe Cullen 6-1 Gordon Mathers
Vincent van der Voort 6-5 Gary Anderson
George Killington 6-5 Andy Boulton
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Steve Lennon
Losers: £750
Last 32
Steve West 6-4 Kevin Doets
James Wade 6-4 Martin Lukeman
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Dave Chisnall
Joe Murnan 6-1 Ron Meulenkamp
Jamie Hughes 6-4 Madars Razma
Alan Soutar 6-3 Boris Krcmar
Damon Heta 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Max Hopp
Keane Barry 6-5 Jim McEwan
Scott Williams 6-5 Maik Kuivenhoven
Connor Scutt 6-3 Jon Worsley
Jose de Sousa 6-2 Lee Evans
Lewy Williams 6-1 Jose Justicia
Joe Cullen 6-2 Vincent van der Voort
Daryl Gurney 6-4 George Killington
Losers: £1,250
Last 16
James Wade 6-4 Steve West
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Niels Zonneveld
Joe Murnan 6-5 Jamie Hughes
Damon Heta 6-2 Alan Soutar
Keane Barry 6-0 Kim Huybrechts
Connor Scutt 6-4 Scott Williams
Jose de Sousa 6-5 Lewy Williams
Joe Cullen 6-4 Daryl Gurney
Losers: £2,000
Quarter-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 James Wade
Damon Heta 6-3 Joe Murnan
Connor Scutt 6-5 Keane Barry
Joe Cullen 6-5 Jose de Sousa
Losers: £3,000
Semi-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 7-4 Damon Heta
Joe Cullen 7-5 Connor Scutt
Losers: £4,000
Final
Joe Cullen 8-4 Damon Heta
Winner: £12,000
Runner-up: £8,000
