Premier League darts runner-up Joe Cullen has blasted his omission from the 2023 darting roadshow, calling it a “kick in the balls”.
The Rockstar made his debut in last year Premier League, securing a place courtesy of winning the Masters in the Milton Keynes. Cullen went on to reach the play-offs in Berlin, beating league leader Jonny Clayton in the semi-finals and then pushing Michael van Gerwen all the way in the final. Cullen had a dart to win the tournament, only to miss the double by fractions as Van Gerwen took the title.
The Bradford thrower went on to have a solid if unspectacular year and then suffered an early exit at this year’s Masters, losing to eventual winner Chris Dobey in the second round.
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However, Cullen still felt he deserved a place among the eight players selected and he took to social media to share his discontent after it was revealed he had missed out.
He tweeted: “Gutted with my omission from the Premier League! Don’t feel it’s justified at all if I’m honest…. In fact it’s a kick in the balls! But I’m certainly not the only player who rightly feels hard done by! Felt I deserved another chance after been 1mm from winning – been a tough day!!”
Cullen received high-level support with world champion Michael Smith replying to the message: “Gutted for you mate. Wanted my best mate with me.”
Cullen isn’t the only player disgruntled to miss out, with world number five Luke Humphries – the winner of four European Tour events last year – the most notable omission.
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(Image: PDC/Twitter)
Humphries tweeted: “Can’t deny that I’m incredibly gutted not to be involved in this years Premier league, I’ve really worked hard in 2022 to get the results I did, 5 senior ranking titles and 2 major semi finals, and All I can say is I’m proud of my achievement’s even if they wasn’t good enough.”
European champion Ross Smith also hit out at his non-selection, posting: “As the reigning European Champion and the biggest 180-hitter in the world in the second half of 2022, I’m obviously absolutely gutted not to be included. But I respect the decision and wish all the players the very best for the event.”
The top four players in the world – Michael Smith, Van Gerwen, Peter Wright and Gerwyn Price – have been joined by 2021 winner Clayton, Dobey, Dimitri Van den Bergh and Nathan Aspinall.
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