Sporting Life
Joe Cullen and Michael van Gerwen (Picture: Lawrence Lustig/PDC)
Joe Cullen and Michael van Gerwen (Picture: Lawrence Lustig/PDC)

Darts results: Joe Cullen rows with Gary Anderson and then beats Michael van Gerwen to win the Premier League night in Rotterdam

By Chris Hammer
08:28 · FRI March 25, 2022

Joe Cullen beat Michael van Gerwen to win night seven of the Premier League Darts season in Rotterdam, where he was also embroiled in a heated row with Gary Anderson .

The Rockstar headed into the latest round of action sitting bottom of the table after suffering a five-match losing streak since reaching the final in Liverpool way back in early February but ended it in the much healthier position of fourth.

It all started with a stunning comeback from 5-3 down to claim a much-needed 6-5 victory over last week's champion Anderson, who then expressed frustration with his opponent on the oche.

It's believed the Flying Scotsman was unhappy about an alleged moment of encroachment during the match but it was clear from Cullen's stunned reaction that he felt he'd done nothing wrong.

The Bradford ace had survived two match darts in the deciding leg - and four overall - from the 51-year-old before holding his nerve with a fine 74 checkout.

Afterwards Cullen told DAZN: "For want of a better expression, he called me a cheat. Gary was saying ‘I know what I did’, I said I don’t know what I did. I did absolutely nothing wrong. I’ve never had an issue with Gary in the past.”

"I’ve done absolutely nothing wrong, my conscience is clear. I don’t know what it was. I said ‘watch every camera back you’ve got’. I don’t know whether it was the heat of the moment.

"We all do stupid things in the heat of the moment. I’m a lot of things but I’m not a cheat. I’ve got a lot of respect for Gary, he’s a great ambassador for the sport but I think he let himself down a bit tonight."

Cullen only averaged 92.82 against Anderson although he got away with an even lower mark of 88.17 to battle past a struggling Peter Wright 6-4 in the semi-finals.

The debutant threw four of the six 180s in the match and while he wasn't too sharp on his finishing (35.3%), Snakebite spurned 11 of his 15 attempts at doubles despite firing in two 100+ checkouts.

Home favourite Van Gerwen, who was roared on by 10,000-strong sea of orange at the Ahoy all night, had survived two match darts in the deciding leg of his quarter-final with Michael Smith earlier in the night but produced a far better performance against Jonny Clayton to win 6-3 with a 103 average.

However, both players struggled during the early stages of a tense final, with Cullen making the most of MVG's slopping finishing to keep his nose in front at 3-2 with checkouts of 118 and 97.

Van Gerwen looked as though he'd wrestled control when moving 4-3 up only for the Englishman to silence the crowd with back-to-back legs.

MVG then held his nerve to force a deciding leg but Cullen fired in a pair of 180s en route to a 14-darter that gave him his first Premier League nightly title of the season.

"It's great to get the win, there's nothing better than playing a Dutchman in their backyard," said Cullen. "The crowd was unbelievable. I thought playing Jonny Clayton in Cardiff was special but this tops it.

"It's a special night for me, especially to get the five points because I was struggling a bit at the bottom of the table but now I'm back.

"I don't think I played much better than I did last week, the Premier League is tough every week. I think the new format has helped me out, winning five points tonight keeps me right in the hunt for the Play-Offs."

The two other quarter-finals had also gone to deciding legs, with Peter Wright edging out James Wade in the opener while Jonny Clayton pipped Gerwyn Price with the help of three 100+ checkouts.

Premier League: Night seven results and averages

Quarter-Finals

  • Peter Wright (95.55) 6-5 (91.09) James Wade
  • Gary Anderson (88.76) 5-6 (92.82) Joe Cullen
  • Jonny Clayton (98.5) 6-5 (94.91) Gerwyn Price
  • Michael van Gerwen (89.53) 6-5 (96.82) Michael Smith

Semi-Finals

  • Peter Wright (87.87) 4-6 (88.17) Joe Cullen
  • Jonny Clayton (98.08) 3-6 (103.28) Michael van Gerwen

Final

  • Joe Cullen (90.64) 6-5 (97.49) Michael van Gerwen

Premier League Table & Format

NW = Nights won, RU = Runner-up, SF = Semi-final defeats, MW = Matches won

  1. MVG NW 2 RU 1 SF 2 MW 8 LegD +27 Pts 17
  2. Wright NW 1 RU 1 SF 4 MW 8 LegD +3 Pts 14
  3. Clayton NW 1 RU 1 SF 2 MW 7 LegD -6 Pts 12
  4. Cullen NW 1 RU 1 SF 1 MW 6 LegD -3 Pts 10
  5. Price NW 1 RU 0 SF 2 MW 5 LegD 0 Pts 9
  6. Smith NW 0 RU 2 SF 1 MW 5 LegD -1 Pts 8
  7. Anderson NW 1 RU 0 SF 1 MW 4 LegD -6 Pts 7
  8. Wade NW 0 RU 1 SF 2 MW 4 LegD -8 Pts 7

Each night will see quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final played over the best of 11 legs (first to six). Each player will meet the other seven players twice over the course of the season in a quarter-final game, plus two further nights (Night Eight and Night 16) will feature additional fixtures in the same format. Those fixtures will be a draw bracket based on how the league table looks at the time. So, whoever is top will face the eighth-placed player in the first round.

  • Night Winner - 5 points + £10,000 bonus
  • Runner-Up - 3 points
  • Semi-Finalists - 2 points

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