Joe Cullen took a huge step towards confirming his qualification for next month’s BOYLE Sports World Grand Prix with victory in Wednesday’s Players Championship 27.
Cullen edged out Gerwyn Price in a thrilling last-leg shoot-out to triumph in Hildesheim, as the Welshman fell just short in his bid for back-to-back titles on German soil.
However, Cullen has now put himself in a terrific position to secure a place in October’s World Grand Prix, having been outside of the provisional qualification places prior to this week’s ProTour double-header.
The Bradford-born star overcame Brendan Dolan in round one, before recording a quartet of 6-4 victories against Adam Hunt, Cameron Menzies, Robert Grundy and James Hurrell to advance to the semi-finals.
Cullen continued his charge with a comprehensive 7-1 victory over Scott Williams, which set up a winner-takes-all showdown against Price at Halle 39.
The former Masters champion seized the early initiative before Price hit back with legs of 12 and 11 darts to restore parity at two apiece, and the pendulum continued to shift throughout a compelling final.
Cullen regained his two-leg buffer with a brilliant double-double 94 finish to lead 5-3, but a resilient Price responded with another 11-darter followed by a clinical 104 kill to level at 6-6.
This was followed by successive holds of throw to set up a grandstand finish, and the advantage of throw proved pivotal for Cullen, who let out a huge roar after pinning double four to take the title.
“I’m so happy to win this title,” reflected the 36-year-old, who averaged 99.78 and landed nine 180s in Wednesday’s showpiece.
“Performances like that today just reassure me that I can play this game!
“I’m sort of an enigma to myself at the minute. I can produce darts like today, but then you’ll watch me in a few weeks and I’ll have an 81 average."
Cullen reached the final of the year’s opening Players Championship event in February, before edging out Gian van Veen to prevail at Players Championship Five in March.
Nevertheless, he had not progressed beyond the last 16 of a ranking event since then, which saw him slip to world number 29 prior to Wednesday’s action.
“I had not been working anywhere near as hard as I should have been," conceded Cullen.
“I got lazy. I wasn’t practising. This is a brutal sport and you get what you deserve in this game.
“I have been struggling for the last couple of months, but I’ve been putting the work in during the last few weeks and today I felt more comfortable.”
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 just 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 in the quarter-finals.
Price then produced his performance of the day to account for Danny Noppert in the last four, averaging 104.98 and pinning all seven of his attempts at double to close out a 7-3 success.
Noppert landed a nine-dart finish on his way to the semi-finals, achieving perfection in the penultimate leg of his opening round win against Mario Vandenbogaerde.
The Dutchman was joined in the semi-finals by Scott Williams, who produced a brace of outrageous 120 checkouts (3x D20) to sweep aside Dom Taylor in round three.
Earlier in the day, Taylor averaged 103 to account for world number one Luke Humphries in round one, while Van Veen, Gary Anderson, Nathan Aspinall and Damon Heta also crashed out at the same stage of the tournament.