Back-to-back Players Championship titles for clinical Joe Cullen
Joe Cullen made it back-to-back Players Championship titles in Wigan with an 8-1 rout of Dimitri van den Bergh in the final of Event Four on Sunday.
Cullen coasted to victory in Players Championship Three on Saturday despite an overall average of 91.2 and completed a prestigious ProTour double 24 hours later.
The reigning Masters champion averaged 96.6 across the day as he extended his unbeaten run to 14 games and moved his PDC title tally into double figures.
“I felt so much better today,” said Cullen. “Yesterday I felt like I was pulling a lot on the trebles but I seemed to be finishing well, and in the games today I combined the two and got over the line again.
“I’m just playing well at the minute and even when I’m not playing well I think people know I should be playing well and can turn it on at any point.
“I think it’s just having that bit of fear factor, I’m winning stuff at the minute and things are going well.
“I’ve had worse weekends!”
Cullen began the day with a 6-3 win over Peter Hudson in Round One before edging out Luke Woodhouse in a last-leg decider.
The world number 11 then saw off Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 and averaged 102.5 in a 6-3 win over Keegan Brown, before denying Rob Cross in a last-leg shoot-out with an average of 103.
In the Semi-Finals, Cullen defied a 102.3 average to knock out world number one Gerwyn Price 7-5 despite averaging eight points fewer than his opponent.
Cullen dominated the final from the outset, securing the first leg with a 104 finish and doubling his lead with a ruthless 121 checkout.
Van den Bergh got off the mark with a 13-darter in leg three but that would prove to be his only meaningful contribution to the contest as Cullen reeled off a further five legs on the spin before sealing victory in style with a 127 checkout on the bull.
The double triumph secures ‘The Rockstar’ £24,000 in prize money and means he has now won three of the five available titles so far this season.
Van den Bergh enjoyed a fine run to his first final of the year and leapfrogs Jonny Clayton into the world number eight spot as a result.
The Belgian ace defeated Luc Peters, Andrew Gilding, Kevin Doets and Adam Gawlas before averaging 108.5 in a high quality last-leg win over Daryl Gurney.
He then overcame Krzysztof Ratajski 7-4 in the Semi-Finals but fell victim to a relentless Cullen in the decider.
Elsewhere, Ryan Joyce pulled off a 6-0 whitewash of World Champion Peter Wright in the Last 32 with a 103.6 average, meaning Price retains the world number one spot ahead of the Scotsman.
New Tour Card holder Cameron Menzies enjoyed a 6-4 victory over Michael van Gerwen in the Second Round, while Ryan Searle, Jose de Sousa and Damon Heta were among the notable First Round casualties.
BET £10 AND GET £30 IN FREE DARTS BETS WHEN YOU REGISTER HERE (18+)
Players Championship Four Results
Sunday February 13
First Round
Gerwyn Price 6-3 Jim Williams
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-2 Jake Jones
Alan Soutar 6-3 Brian Raman
Martin Lukeman 6-1 Mickey Mansell
James Wade 6-5 Adam Hunt
Jon Worsley 6-2 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Ryan Meikle 6-4 Callan Rydz
Gordon Mathers 6-5 Nick Fullwell
George Killington 6-3 Ryan Searle
Berry van Peer 6-1 Richie Burnett
Raymond van Barneveld 6-1 Nathan Rafferty
Ricky Evans 6-1 Ricardo Pietreczko
Luke Humphries 6-4 Devon Petersen
Darren Webster 6-3 Ross Montgomery
Jules van Dongen 6-4 Martin Schindler
Jason Heaver 6-4 Scott Williams
Joe Cullen 6-3 Peter Hudson
Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Martijn Kleermaker
Eddie Lovely 6-3 Adrian Lewis
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 John Henderson
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Shaun Wilkinson
Jack Main 6-2 Jamie Clark
Chris Dobey 6-2 Jamie Hughes
Keegan Brown 6-5 Jim McEwan
Michael Smith 6-3 John Michael
Danny Jansen 6-3 James Wilson
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Josh Rock
Darius Labanauskas 6-3 Geert Nentjes
Rob Cross 6-2 David Evans
Andy Boulton 6-5 Ritchie Edhouse
Stephen Bunting 6-0 Boris Koltsov
Ron Meulenkamp 6-5 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Peter Wright 6-2 Glen Durrant
Mike De Decker 6-5 Geert De Vos
Ryan Joyce 6-4 Jason Lowe
Joe Murnan 6-1 Max Hopp
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-4 Maik Kuivenhoven
Danny Baggish 6-3 Kevin Burness
Lewy Williams 6-4 Ross Smith
Radek Szaganski 6-1 John Brown
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Steve West
Bradley Brooks 6-4 John O’Shea
Vincent van der Voort 6-5 Scott Waites
Madars Razma 6-2 William O’Connor
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-1 Brendan Dolan
Scott Mitchell 6-5 Jeff Smith
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Pete Burgoyne
Connor Scutt 6-5 Steve Lennon
Adam Gawlas 6-4 Jose de Sousa
Simon Whitlock 6-5 Steve Haggerty
Mervyn King 6-4 William Borland
Niels Zonneveld 6-3 Keane Barry
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-1 Luc Peters
Andrew Gilding 6-2 Steve Beaton
Gabriel Clemens 6-4 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Kevin Doets 6-0 Tony Martinez
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Jimmy Hendriks
Cameron Menzies 6-3 Jose Justicia
Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Matt Campbell
Florian Hempel 6-5 Ted Evetts
Boris Krcmar 6-5 Damon Heta
Damian Mol 6-4 Brett Claydon
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Ian White
Lee Evans 6-5 Stu Wilson
Second Round
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Krzysztof Kciuk
Martin Lukeman 6-5 Alan Soutar
James Wade 6-1 Jon Worsley
Ryan Meikle 6-4 Gordon Mathers
George Killington 6-2 Berry van Peer
Ricky Evans 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Luke Humphries 6-2 Darren Webster
Jason Heaver 6-3 Jules van Dongen
Joe Cullen 6-5 Luke Woodhouse
Jermaine Wattimena 6-1 Eddie Lovely
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1 Jack Main
Keegan Brown 6-5 Chris Dobey
Danny Jansen 6-2 Michael Smith
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Darius Labanauskas
Rob Cross 6-5 Andy Boulton
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Ron Meulenkamp
Peter Wright 6-4 Mike De Decker
Ryan Joyce 6-5 Joe Murnan
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Danny Baggish
Radek Szaganski 6-3 Lewy Williams
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Bradley Brooks
Vincent van der Voort 6-5 Madars Razma
Scott Mitchell 6-3 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Connor Scutt
Adam Gawlas 6-3 Simon Whitlock
Niels Zonneveld 6-1 Mervyn King
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-2 Andrew Gilding
Kevin Doets 6-1 Gabriel Clemens
Cameron Menzies 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Mensur Suljovic 6-4 Florian Hempel
Damian Mol 6-4 Boris Krcmar
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Lee Evans
Losers: £750
Last 32
Gerwyn Price 6-3 Martin Lukeman
Ryan Meikle 6-3 James Wade
George Killington 6-5 Ricky Evans
Luke Humphries 6-2 Jason Heaver
Joe Cullen 6-2 Jermaine Wattimena
Keegan Brown 6-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Danny Jansen
Rob Cross 6-5 Stephen Bunting
Ryan Joyce 6-0 Peter Wright
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Radek Szaganski
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Vincent van der Voort
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Scott Mitchell
Adam Gawlas 6-0 Niels Zonneveld
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Kevin Doets
Cameron Menzies 6-4 Mensur Suljovic
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Damian Mol
Losers: £1,250
Last 16
Gerwyn Price 6-0 Ryan Meikle
Luke Humphries 6-4 George Killington
Joe Cullen 6-3 Keegan Brown
Rob Cross 6-3 Kim Huybrechts
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Ryan Joyce
Dave Chisnall 6-4 Jonny Clayton
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Adam Gawlas
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Cameron Menzies
Losers: £2,000
Quarter-Finals
Gerwyn Price 6-5 Luke Humphries
Joe Cullen 6-5 Rob Cross
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Dave Chisnall
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Daryl Gurney
Losers: £3,000
Semi-Finals
Joe Cullen 7-5 Gerwyn Price
Dimitri van den Bergh 7-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Losers: £4,000
Final
Joe Cullen 8-1 Dimitri van den Bergh
Winner: £12,000
Runner-up: £8,000
