Joe Cullen wins his first PDC ProTour title in Players Championship
Sunday 9 April 2017 21:44, UK
Joe Cullen secured his first PDC ProTour title as he claimed victory in Players Championship Eight with a 6-5 win over Daryl Gurney in the final.
The Yorkshireman, a three-time Development Tour event winner in 2011 during his emergence, had made three previous ranking finals but April 9 2017 will be remembered as the day he finally got over the line at senior level in Barnsley.
Cullen began the day by surviving two match darts against Yordi Meeuwisse in round one, before the 27-year-old made his way to the final and a clash against Gurney, who had won his maiden PDC title in Saturday's Players Championship Seven.
The final began with Cullen opening the match with a maximum before hitting seven perfect darts in the third leg to take a 2-1 lead.
A 14-dart leg then followed as Cullen broke the Gurney throw before holding to move 4-1 ahead.
The pair then traded holds, with Cullen moving to within a leg of the match at 5-3, however an 11-dart break from Gurney kept the contest alive.
Gurney held his throw to take the match to a deciding leg, where he then missed the bullseye to claim a second title in as many days.
Cullen stepped in to pin double four to claim the £10,000 prize, and spoke of his delight at claiming a maiden title.
"I'm so happy," he said. "Daryl missed nothing so I had to take my chances.
"I always believe I can win. I used to think I could rely on my natural talent but now I'm putting the work in. Now if I fall I can look at it and think I've worked for it in the right way."
The Easter weekend sees the PDC European Tour return with the HappyBet German Darts Masters from April 15-17 in Jena, Germany.
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