Joe Cullen (born 13 July 1989) is an English professional

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...

player who plays in

Professional Darts Corporation The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World ...

(PDC) events. He won three Youth Tour tournaments in his early career and has qualified for the PDC World Championship twelve times, winning only thrice in the first round. Cullen reached his first major quarter-final at the

2016 UK Open The 2016 Coral UK Open was a darts tournament staged by the Professional Darts Corporation. It was the fourteenth year of the tournament where, following numerous regional qualifying heats throughout Britain, players competing in a single eliminat ...

and won his first

PDC Pro Tour The PDC Pro Tour is a series of non-televised darts tournaments organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). They comprise Professional Dart Players Association (PDPA) Players Championships and European Tour events. Only four players ...

title in 2017. He won his first televised title at the 2022 Masters.

Career

Early career

Cullen first came to prominence in 2008 when he qualified for the

UK Open The Cazoo UK Open is a ranking major darts tournament held annually at the Butlins Minehead Resort by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in England. Often referred to as the "FA Cup of darts", the UK Open replicates the abolition of seedin ...

. He defeated Mark Stapleton and Dennis Smith before Chris Mason defeated him in the last 64. Following his performances at

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

, he joined the PDC circuit. He also reached the final of the New Kids on the Oche tournament, losing to

Arron Monk Arron Monk (born 15 April 1990) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is the son of fellow former professional darts player and the 1996 Winmau World Masters winner Colin Monk. ...

. In 2009, Cullen decided to leave his job as a postman to concentrate on a career in darts. Cullen had another decent run at the 2010 UK Open. He knocked out Darren Latham and Mike Nott before losing to Mervyn King, again in the last 64. Later that year, he defeated Phil Taylor in the last 16 of the John McEvoy Gold Dart Classic in

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Castl ...

, eventually losing in the quarter-finals to

Colin Osborne Colin Osborne (born 19 June 1975) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. In 2009, he won the Championship League and reached the final of the UK Open. Darts career Osborne has won two ...

. Cullen qualified for his first

PDC World Darts Championship The PDC World Darts Championship, known for sponsorship purposes as the Cazoo World Darts Championship, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), is a World Professional Darts Championship held annually in the sport of darts. The PD ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

. He lost narrowly to

Terry Jenkins Terry Jenkins (born 26 September 1963) is an English former professional darts player who was nicknamed The Bull, having previously used the name "Tucker" for his matches. He reached number three in the world rankings and was a runner-up in nin ...

by 3 sets to 2 in the first round. In April, Cullen reached his first PDC Pro Tour final at the sixth UK Open Qualifier in

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

, losing 6–1 to Taylor.

2012

He reached the final of the PDPA World Championship Qualifier, where he was beaten 5–3 by

. The result meant that he qualified for the preliminary round of the 2012 World Championship, where he beat Oliver Ferenc of

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

by 4 legs to 2. He played number 10 seed

in the first round for the second successive year and was beaten 3–0, winning just three legs in the match. In April, he earned a place in the Austrian Darts Open by defeating Sam Hill and John Bowles in the UK qualifier. He played

Brendan Dolan Brendan Gabriel Dolan (born 2 August 1973) is a Northern Irish professional darts player from County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is best known for becoming the first player to hit a ...

in the first round and won 6–4, and then continued his run by beating

Simon Whitlock Simon Whitlock (born 3 March 1969) is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments, having also played in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) between 2004 and 2009. He uses the nickname T ...

6–4, despite his opponent hitting a nine darter. Cullen defeated Mark Walsh to make the quarter-finals, where he was this time on the wrong end of a 6–4 scoreline as he lost to eventual winner

Justin Pipe Justin Pipe (born 9 November 1971) is an English former professional darts player who has played in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He was a former top 10 player. Playing career Pipe was a boxer in his youth, and, as a staunc ...

. Cullen's best result of the season came a week after this as he won through to the semi-finals of the final UK Open Qualifier, but was then whitewashed 6–0 by Pipe. He also qualified for the third European Tour event, the European Darts Open and beat Jenkins 6–1 in the first round in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

, before losing to Johnny Haines 6–5 in round two. Cullen reached the last 16 of the

with victories over Jim Walker (9–4) and

Colin Lloyd Colin Edward Lloyd (born 7 August 1973), nicknamed Jaws, is an English retired professional darts player. He is a former world number one ranked player and has won two major television titles in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) – the ...

(9–8), but then let a 4–0 and 5–1 lead against

Jamie Caven Jamie Robert Caven (born 10 March 1976) is an English former professional darts player who plays in British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. He has won seven events on the PDC Pro Tour, including two in the same weekend in May 2013. Caven was a ...

slip to lose 9–8. He qualified for the World Matchplay for the first time and lost to Pipe 10–4 in the first round.

2013

Cullen qualified for the 2013 World Championship by finishing 36th on the 2012 ProTour Order of Merit, claiming the fifth of sixteen spots that were available for the highest non-qualified players. He lost 3–0 to

John Part John Part (born June 29, 1966) is a Canadian former professional darts player and current commentator. Nicknamed Darth Maple, he is a three-times World Champion, having won the 1994 BDO World Darts Championship on his world championship debut, a ...

in the first round, with the Canadian's superior finishing being the difference between the players. Cullen was ranked world number 41 after the tournament. He lost 9–5 to Lee Palfreyman in the third round of the

. At the Austrian Darts Open Cullen beat

Kim Huybrechts Kim Huybrechts (born 16 November 1985) is a Belgian professional darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He made the final of a major TV event, the 2012 Players Championship Finals, losing to Phil Taylor 13 ...

6–4 and then averaged a stunning 111.84 average in seeing off

Stuart Kellett Stuart Kellett (born 12 August 1981) is a former English darts player. BDO career Kellett reached the last 16 of the 2007 Winmau World Masters, having beaten Andy Fordham among others on the way to the televised stages. He lost 1-3 in sets t ...

6–1. He reached the quarter-finals of this event for the second year running by surviving one match dart from

Raymond van Barneveld Raymond van Barneveld (born 20 April 1967) is a Dutch professional darts player. Nicknamed Barney, although originally known as The Man, he is one of the most successful darts players in history. Van Barneveld is a five-time World Darts Champ ...

to win 6–5, but was then beaten 6–0 by Mervyn King. Cullen reached three other quarter-finals in floor events during the year but lost in each one.

2014

Cullen qualified for the 2014 World Championship through the ProTour Order of Merit once again and faced Peter Wright in the first round. Cullen took out a 147 finish to level the opening set with Wright on 12 but lost the decider and also lost the final leg in the second set and was beaten 3–0. He missed out on playing in the

for the first time in his career as he failed to advance beyond the last 128 in any of the six qualifiers. At the 11th Players Championship of the year he reached the semi-finals of a ranking PDC event for the first in over two years, where he was defeated 6–3 by Gary Anderson. Cullen won through to the same stage of the 16th event with impressive victories over

Dave Chisnall Dave Chisnall (born 12 September 1980) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He began his career in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and was the runner-up in their World Champions ...

Andy Hamilton Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor. Early life and education Hamilton was born in Fulham, southwest London. He ...

and

Michael van Gerwen Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player. He is currently ranked number 3 in the world, having been number 1 from 2014 to 2021. He is also a three-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2014, 2 ...

, but this time lost 6–3 to

2015

Cullen lost 3–1 to reigning champion

in the first round of the 2015 World Championship, after every set had gone to a deciding leg which included Cullen missing two darts for the second set. He was knocked out in the third round of the

9–6 by Eddie Dootson. Cullen lost in the quarter-finals of the first Players Championship 6–0 to

and had to wait until October for another one. It came at the European Darts Grand Prix after he saw off

Antonio Alcinas Antonio Alcinas Estelrich (born 7 April 1979) is a Spanish darts player playing in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career Alcinas started competing in PDC Europe events in 2010. After reaching the quarter-finals of a Players Champ ...

6–3, Chisnall 6–2 (with an average of 103.58) and then averaged an outstanding 110.16 in defeating

6–2. However, in the quarters he averaged just over 20 points less during a 6–4 loss to

Mensur Suljović Mensur Suljović (Serbian Cyrillic: Менсур Суљовић; born 5 March 1972) is an Austrian professional darts player. He plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, having previously played in the British Darts Organisation (BD ...

. Cullen's third and final quarter-final of 2015 was at the 19th Players Championship after he ousted

Ronnie Baxter Ronnie Baxter (born 5 February 1961) is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He used the nickname "The Rocket" for his matches. Baxter was known for his fast robotic throwing a ...

, Ian White,

and Steve West, before losing 6–4 to

Stephen Bunting Stephen Bunting (born 9 April 1985) is an English professional darts player who competes in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Nicknamed The Bullet, Bunting won the 2014 BDO World Darts Championship and is a twice former Wor ...

2016

He took the final qualifying spot from the Pro Tour Order of Merit for the 2016 World Championship, but lost in the opening round for the sixth year in a row as he won just two legs during a 3–0 defeat to

Jelle Klaasen Jelle Klaasen (born 17 October 1984), nicknamed The Cobra, is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and World Darts Federation (WDF) events. In 2006, he became the youngest darts player to win the ...

. At the

Cullen beat

Mark Frost Mark Frost (born November 25, 1953) is an American novelist, screenwriter, film-and-television producer and director. He is the co-creator of the mystery television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991; 2017) and was a writer and executive story ...

9–1, Alan Norris 9–6 and

9–7 to play in his first major quarter-final. He produced a fightback from 9–3 down to Peter Wright, but would lose 10–7 with an average of 101.83, his highest in a televised match to date. This began a rich vein in form for Cullen as he reached the semi-finals of the first Players Championship event (lost 6–3 to Wright) and the same stage of the German Darts Masters (lost 6–1 to

after whitewashing reigning world champion Gary Anderson 6–0 in the quarters). Cullen's second ever PDC final came at the ninth Players Championship, but he was thrashed 6–0 by

Benito van de Pas Benito van de Pas (born 18 January 1993) is a Dutch professional darts player. Career BDO Van de Pas reached the semi-finals of the 2011 PDC Under-21 World Championship, losing 1-4 to Michael van Gerwen. Van de Pas won the 2011 German Open. ...

. Another came at the 11th event and he was left waiting for his first professional title as Ian White won 6–3. Cullen qualified for the World Matchplay for the first time in four years and lost 10–5 to Wright in the opening round. Cullen made his debut at the World Grand Prix and he won the first set against

, before losing six of the next seven legs to bow out. After seeing off

Chris Dobey Chris Dobey (born 31 May 1990) is an English professional darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career His first major TV appearance came in the 2015 UK Open where he lost 5–1 in the first round to N ...

6–2 at the European Championship he was heavily beaten 10–3 by Phil Taylor in the second round. A 13 dart leg from Cullen saw him squeeze past Anderson in to the quarter-finals of the non-ranking

World Series of Darts Finals The World Series of Darts Finals is a non-ranking darts tournament held by the Professional Darts Corporation. It is classed as a PDC premier event. The tournament was held annually in November, but in 2020, it moved to September, and moved to O ...

, where he lost to Wright in a televised match for the third time in 2016, this time 10–7. Cullen eased past Steve Brown 6–1 and

Rowby-John Rodriguez Rowby-John Rodriguez (born 27 March 1994) is an Austrian professional darts player currently playing in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Career In 2010, as a 16-year-old, Rodriguez won the Austrian National Championship by bea ...

6–0 at the

Players Championship Finals The Players Championship Finals is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The tournament originally featured the top 32 players from the Players Championship Order of Merit, a separate ranking system that only takes int ...

, but then averaged 71.13 as

knocked him out 10–2 in the third round.

2017

After breaking into the top 32 on the Order of Merit during 2016, it meant Cullen was a seeded player at the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

for the first time in his career. He beat

Corey Cadby Corey Patrick Cadby (born 18 March 1995) is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He was the 2016 World Youth champion. Career A native of Tasmania, Cadby began competing in Darts P ...

3–1 in the first round to pick up his first-ever win at the tournament at the seventh time of asking. Cullen averaged 100.88, but went on to lose 4–0 to two-time winner of the event

Adrian Lewis Adrian Lewis (born 21 January 1985) is an English professional darts player currently playing in the PDC. He is a two-time PDC World Darts Champion, winning in 2011 and 2012. He is nicknamed Jackpot, as he won a jackpot gambling in Las Vegas ...

in the next round. Cullen joined the

Professional Dart Players Association The Professional Dart Players Association (PDPA) is an organisation for professional dart players within the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Its intention is to look after the interests of all professional players through an annually electe ...

's 9 Dart Club for the first time, after getting a

nine-dart finish A nine-dart finish, also known as a nine-darter, is a perfect leg or single game in the sport of darts. The object of the game is to score a set number of points, most commonly 501; in order to win, a player must reach the target total exactly an ...

in the second round of the 2017 PDC Players Championship 4 against

Jim Brown James Nathaniel Brown (born February 17, 1936) is a former American football player, sports analyst and actor. He played as a fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered to be one ...

. Cullen claimed his first PDC title in April at the eighth Players Championship. He was 4–1 up in the final, before

Daryl Gurney Daryl Gurney (born 22 March 1986) is a Northern Irish professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Gurney is a winner of two majors, having won the World Grand Prix in 2017 in his native Ireland, and the P ...

squared the match at 5–5. Gurney missed one match dart and Cullen won on double four and said afterwards that he had relied on his natural talent in the past, but in the last year he had also been working very hard on his game.

2022

Entering the

2022 PDC World Darts Championship The 2022 PDC World Darts Championship (officially referred to as the 2021/22 William Hill World Darts Championship) was the 29th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Org ...

ranked 13th in the world, Cullen defeated Jim Williams 3–2 in the second round before losing 3–4 to debutant

Martijn Kleermaker Martijn Kleermaker (born February 19, 1991) is a Dutch professional darts player, currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation events. PDC He announced that he intended to compete at Q School 2020, speaking to RTL7 saying tha ...

in the third round. On 30 January 2022, Cullen won a first televised PDC title when he won the 2022 Masters. Cullen defeated

, Gary Anderson 10–1 with an average of 106.30,

and

José de Sousa José Augusto Oliveira de Sousa (born 12 February 1974) is a Portuguese professional darts player. He is based in Tarragona and represented Spain at the 2011 WDF World Cup, but played for the Portuguese team afterwards at the PDC. He won his ...

en route to the final. Despite missing ten match darts, he defeated

11–9 to secure his first televised PDC title. Cullen joined the

's 9 Dart Club for the second time, after getting a

in the third round of the 2022 PDC Players Championship 5 against

James Wilson James Wilson may refer to: Politicians and government officials Canada *James Wilson (Upper Canada politician) (1770–1847), English-born farmer and political figure in Upper Canada * James Crocket Wilson (1841–1899), Canadian MP from Quebe ...

. Cullen competed in his debut season in the Premier League in 2022; he finished 4th in the table and qualified for finals night on the last night of league play, by defeating Peter Wright in his final match. On June 13, at finals night in Berlin, Cullen defeated Jonny Clayton 10-4 in the semi-finals to secure a place in the final against Michael van Gerwen, which he lost 11-10 after missing a match dart. Cullen made it to the last 16 of the

2023 PDC World Darts Championship The 2022/23 PDC World Darts Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2022/23 Cazoo World Darts Championship) is the upcoming 30th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Dar ...

. He was knocked out by eventual winner Michael Smith.

World Championship record

PDC

* 2011: First round (lost to

2–3) * 2012: First round (lost to Terry Jenkins 0–3) * 2013: First round (lost to

0–3) * 2014: First round (lost to Peter Wright 0–3) * 2015: First round (lost to

1–3) * 2016: First round (lost to

0–3) * 2017: Second round (lost to

0–4) * 2018: First round (lost to

Jermaine Wattimena Jermaine Wattimena (born 9 March 1988) is a Dutch darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments. Career Wattimena won the first event he entered as he claimed the 2008 Malta Open by beating Vincent Busuttil in t ...

2–3) * 2019: Second round (lost to

0–3) * 2020: Second round (lost to

Nico Kurz Nico Kurz (born 31 January 1997) is a German darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. In 2018, he qualified as a German Superleague qualifier for the 2018 German Darts Masters in the 2018 World Series of Da ...

1–3) * 2021: Fourth round (lost to

3–4) * 2022: Third round (lost to

3–4) * 2023: Fourth round (lost to Michael Smith 1–4)

Career finals

PDC major finals: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Performance timeline

PDC European Tour

References

External links

Joe Cullen's official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cullen, Joe 1989 births Living people English darts players Professional Darts Corporation current tour card holders Sportspeople from Bradford PDC ranking title winners Masters (darts) champions