Joe Cullen took an enormous step in the direction of confirming his qualification for October’s World Grand Prix of Darts with victory in Wednesday’s Gamers Championship 27.
Cullen edged out Gerwyn Worth in an exhilarating last-leg shoot-out to triumph in Hildesheim, because the Welshman fell simply quick in his bid for back-to-back titles on German soil.
Nonetheless, Cullen has now put himself in a terrific place to be concerned within the subsequent main having been exterior of the provisional qualification locations previous to this week’s ProTour double-header.
The Bradford-born star overcame Brendan Dolan in spherical one, earlier than recording a quartet of 6-4 victories towards Adam Hunt, Cameron Menzies, Robert Grundy and James Hurrell to advance to the semi-finals.
Cullen continued his cost with a complete 7-1 victory over Scott Williams, which arrange a winner-takes-all showdown towards Worth at Halle 39.
The previous Masters champion seized the early initiative earlier than Worth hit again with legs of 12 and 11 darts to revive parity at two apiece, and the pendulum continued to shift all through a compelling closing.
Cullen regained his two-leg buffer with a superb double-double 94 end to guide 5-3, however a resilient Worth responded with one other 11-darter adopted by a medical 104 kill to stage at 6-6.
This was adopted by successive holds of throw to arrange a grandstand end, and the benefit of throw proved pivotal for Cullen, who let loose an enormous roar after pinning double 4 to take the title.
“I’m so happy to win this title,” mirrored the 36-year-old, who averaged 99.78 and landed 9 180s in Wednesday’s showpiece.
“Performances like that today just reassure me that I can play this game!
“I am kind of an enigma to myself on the minute. I can produce darts like in the present day, however you then’ll watch me in a number of weeks and I am going to have an 81 common.”
Cullen’s exploits denied Price a ProTour double in Hildesheim, although the Welshman extended his lead at the top of the Players Championship rankings after pocketing the £10,000 runner-up prize.
The 40-year-old conceded simply six legs in wins over Tavis Dudeney, Stephen Burton, Jeffrey de Graaf and Sebastian Bialecki, which he backed up with a hard-fought win over Germany’s Michael Unterbuchner within the quarter-finals.
Worth then produced his efficiency of the day to account for Danny Noppert within the final 4, averaging 104.98 and pinning all seven of his makes an attempt at double to shut out a 7-3 success.
Noppert landed a nine-dart end on his approach to the semi-finals, attaining perfection within the penultimate leg of his opening spherical win towards Mario Vandenbogaerde.
The Dutchman was joined within the semi-finals by Williams, who produced a brace of outrageous 120 checkouts to comb apart Dom Taylor in spherical three.
Earlier within the day, Taylor averaged 103 to account for world primary Luke Humphries in spherical one, whereas Van Veen, Gary Anderson, Nathan Aspinall and Damon Heta additionally crashed out on the similar stage of the match.
2025 Gamers Championship 27 Outcomes
Final 16
- James Hurrell 6-5 Martin Schindler
- Joe Cullen 6-4 Robert Grundy
- Scott Williams 6-2 Dominik Gruellich
- Alexander Merkx 6-1 Krzysztof Ratajski
- Gerwyn Worth 6-2 Sebastian Bialecki
- Michael Unterbuchner 6-1 Wessel Nijman
- Danny Noppert 6-4 Cor Dekker
- Richard Veenstra 6-5 Ryan Searle
Quarter-Finals
- Joe Cullen 6-4 James Hurrell
- Scott Williams 6-1 Alexander Merkx
- Gerwyn Worth 6-4 Michael Unterbuchner
- Danny Noppert 6-1 Richard Veenstra
Semi-Finals
- Joe Cullen 7-1 Scott Williams
- Gerwyn Worth 7-3 Danny Noppert
Closing
- Joe Cullen 8-7 Gerwyn Worth
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