JOE Cullen bowed out of the Betfred World Matchplay at the last-16 stage last night in Blackpool, despite threatening an incredible comeback against second seed Michael van Gerwen.

The Bradford ace knew he had his work cut out against the Dutch superstar in the summer’s big darting major, with van Gerwen having been one of the world’s best players for over a decade.

And with Cullen badly out of form over the last few months, partly due to circumstances away from the oche with his sisters being ill, van Gerwen was unsurprisingly the hot favourite in this Winter Gardens showdown.

He made the most of that tag early on, racing into a 4-1 lead after producing a stunning 151 checkout in the fifth leg.

It could have been so different though, with Cullen missing three doubles to take the opening leg and break van Gerwen’s throw at the first time of asking.

But his Wyke ace fought back from 4-1 down to trail just 5-4 and he came agonisingly close to levelling proceedings in leg 10.

In attempting to take out 101, he missed the final dart at D12 by millimetres, and instead of Cullen making it 5-5, van Gerwen stretched his lead.

And that seemed like being the decisive moment in the game, with the Dutchman romping into a 9-5 lead in this first to 11 match up.

But Cullen impressed in his last-32 clash against Brendan Dolan, averaging over 100 in a 10-4 win over the Northern Irishman.

And he rediscovered some of that form to rattle van Gerwen, reeling off three straight legs to leave himself just 9-8 down.

Joe Cullen fought back twice against Dutch superstar Michael van Gerwen but it wasn't enough for victory.Joe Cullen fought back twice against Dutch superstar Michael van Gerwen but it wasn't enough for victory. (Image: Mark Robinson/PDC.)

The best of those came when he closed the gap to just one in the 17th leg, nailing a stunning 128 checkout against the throw.

Yet Cullen failed to make the most of his momentum, and van Gerwen won the next two legs to claim a hard-fought 11-8 victory.

The Dutchman, who averaged 95.49 to Cullen’s 91.88 last night, will now face Andrew Gilding in the quarter-finals tomorrow.

As for the Bradford man, who was at 40 per cent on his doubles in his last-16 defeat, he was not too despondent, after showing signs of improvement in Blackpool following a difficult few months.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, after his defeat to van Gerwen, Cullen posted this positive message:

Cullen will now be going on a family holiday, with his sisters joining him after an improvement in their health, and is next due back in action at Players Championship 15, which takes place in Milton Keynes on Wednesday, July 31.

Players Championship 16 and 17 will take place on the Thursday and Friday respectively of that week, with all three events being held at the Marshall Arena.