JOE Cullen made it to the last-32 on the European Tour over the weekend in Belgium.

The Wyke native was in action at the Flanders Darts Open in Antwerp, looking to build on the European final he reached earlier this year in Austria.

He lost that to teenage sensation Luke Littler in Graz, before reaching a Players’ Championship final in Milton Keynes last month, which saw him edged out in a thriller by Josh Rock.

Cullen was up against another young talent in Callan Rydz for his opening game in Belgium on Friday night.

And he performed well, recovering well from 3-2 down to claim a 6-4 victory.

During his comeback, he produced a brilliant checkout of 101 against the throw, while he averaged a solid 93.32, compared to Rydz’ 86.87.

That saw the Bradford ace into a clash with Ryan Searle, who he defeated at the last World Championship.

The pair played relatively well in an absorbing encounter out in Antwerp, both of them averaging over 90 for the match.

They were both strong on the doubles too, but Cullen was always fighting back after falling 3-0 down.

The Wyke man dragged himself level in the contest, but was unable to ever quite pull himself ahead, and Searle knocked him out with a 6-4 victory.

Searle was eventually knocked out by Luke Humphries in the quarter-finals, before the reigning World Champion was stopped in the last four by Ricardo Pietreczko.

That set up a final between the German and Dave Chisnall.

And the St Helens native made it a double on the European Tour this season, backing up his European Darts Open triumph in Leverkusen back in June with an 8-6 victory over Pietreckzko.

The Antwerp showpiece a high-quality affair that saw both players average over 95.

Chisnall is back in action this weekend, playing at the World Series of Darts finals in Amsterdam, while Cullen is due to return to the Oche next Tuesday and Wednesday for back-to-back Players Championship events in Wigan.