Masters champion and Premier League runner-up Joe Cullen claimed his third European Tour title with a superb 8-2 defeat of Irishman William O’Connor in the Hungarian Darts Trophy final
Last Updated: 04/09/22 11:54pm
Joe Cullen claimed his third European Tour title and a fourth tournament win of 2022 with a superb 8-2 defeat of William O’Connor in Sunday’s Hungarian Darts Trophy final.
The PDC European Tour’s second visit to Budapest saw the BOK Sportcsarnok enjoy some sensational darts across three days of action.
Masters champion and Premier League runner-up Cullen scooped the ?25,000 top prize, claiming European Tour glory for a third time with his first win since the 2020 International Darts Open.
‘The Rockstar’ had battled past Martin Lukeman in Saturday’s second round, and saw off Jim Williams in Sunday afternoon’s third round to continue his challenge.
He then overcame Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 6-4 in the quarter-finals and survived three missed match darts from Dave Chisnall during their semi-final, before producing a 12-darter to complete a 7-6 victory.
Cullen’s most dominant display came in the final, as he claimed the opening five legs without reply, twice punishing missed doubles from O’Connor while also posting a 13-dart leg, two 14-darters and a 100 finish.
‘The Magpie’ hit back with double 10 and then produced a 124 finish to break with a sparkling 12-darter, but five further missed doubles in the next leg allowed Cullen in to move 6-2 up.
The World Series star then edged towards victory with an 11-darter as he took out 96, and four further misses from the former World Cup finalist allowed him to claim the title on double eight.
“I didn’t expect to come to Budapest and win, but I’m over the moon,” said Cullen.
“In my first three games I was terrible and a bit lucky to get through all three of them. Then I turned it on a little bit in the semis and I think I was pretty decent in the final.
“I kept Willie at bay, because I’d seen how well he played over the weekend and that’s what I had to do.”
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O’Connor came from 5-3 down to edge out Michael Smith in Sunday afternoon’s third round, before defeating Jose de Sousa and Nathan Aspinall to reach his first European Tour final since 2018.
“The fantastic crowd in Budapest is one of the best crowds I’ve ever seen,” said O’Connor. “If you told me before the weekend that I’d get to a final, I’d be absolutely ecstatic.
“Although it’s a disaster to lose in any final – it’s not nice – I don’t mind losing to Joe. He’s one of the best guys in the game and I wish him the very best in the future.”
The PDC European Tour continues from September 9-11 with the Interwetten German Darts Open in Jena, as 48 players compete in the 11th of 13 events being held this year.
2022 Hungarian Darts Trophy
Sunday September 4Afternoon SessionThird RoundJoe Cullen 6-4 Jim WilliamsRusty-Jake Rodriguez 6-4 Madars RazmaJosh Rock 6-5 Dirk van DuijvenbodeDave Chisnall 6-3 Boris KrcmarJose de Sousa 6-4 Jeffrey de ZwaanWilliam O’Connor 6-5 Michael SmithNathan Aspinall 6-4 Karel SedlacekRyan Meikle 6-5 Simon Whitlock
Evening SessionQuarter-FinalsJoe Cullen 6-4 Rusty-Jake RodriguezDave Chisnall 6-0 Josh RockWilliam O’Connor 6-4 Jose de SousaNathan Aspinall 6-5 Ryan Meikle
Semi-FinalsJoe Cullen 7-6 Dave ChisnallWilliam O’Connor 7-5 Nathan Aspinall
FinalJoe Cullen 8-2 William O’Connor
Check out daily Darts news on skysports.com/darts, our app for mobile devices and our Twitter account @skysportsdarts. The 25th staging of the World Grand Prix ‘Double in, Double out’ set format is coming to Sky Sports from October 2-8 in Leicester.