JOE Cullen was involved in an unseemly social media spat last weekend after his early exit from the Hungarian Darts Trophy.
It was the Bradford man’s 100th career appearance on the European Tour, but he was unable to celebrate that milestone with a good tournament, losing 6-5 in his opening match to Scotland veteran Peter Wright.
Young German darts player David Schlichting has previously played in the MODUS Super Series but he was not at the oche last Friday.
Instead, he chose to have a sly dig at Cullen’s milestone appearance, after the Wyke man had criticised the amount of Pro Tour events that currently take place outside of the UK earlier this year.
Pretty impressive for a guy who loathes having to leave Lancashire
— David John Schlichting (@dazi180turtle) September 20, 2024
Cullen may support Manchester United and Wigan Warriors, but he did not take too kindly to being called a Lancastrian.
But he was seemingly more riled by what he feels has been targeted mocking from Schlicting.
He first responded with this acidic reply:
David , what is your problem with me? If you actually played top level darts you’d know exactly what I was referring to? But you don’t! You sit at home ‘praying’ I lose wishing u was in my shoes
— J O E C U L L E N (@rockstar_13_) September 20, 2024
Maybe aim higher than the modus tour and someday I’ll see you on tour! Doubt it tho! https://t.co/HHZzTZet2W
Schlichting tried to defend himself, insisting any teasing was all in the name of fun.
However, the Bradford man was not having it, shooting back:
Bullshit David. I’ve seen many tweets bad mouthing me , constant in fact! You don’t actually know me nor are you relevant at all. You’re just some guy trying to attract attention within darts when you’re actually massively irrelevant! Ive bit my tongue long enough reading your 💩 https://t.co/p0I8Tc6qUu
— J O E C U L L E N (@rockstar_13_) September 20, 2024
If Cullen was hoping the spat would fire him up for this weekend’s Pro Tour events in Leicester, he was sadly mistaken, initially at least.
At Players Championship 22, he was bundled out 6-4 by the unfancied Graham Hall in his opener.
Twenty-four hours later, he was back for another go, at Players Championship 23, and fared far better.
He won his last-128 match impressively, beating William Borland 6-5 with a strong 99.92 average.
The Bradford star then edged another 11-leg thriller, coming out as a 6-5 winner against Scott Williams.
That sent Cullen into a last-32 clash with Mervyn King, and the signs were good when the Wyke star raced into a 3-1 lead.
He was averaging over 100 in the first three legs, and looking good for a spot in the last-16.
But it went south thereafter, as Cullen’s performance dropped off and King hit back to win 6-5.
Cullen is straight back in action this weekend, at the Swiss Darts Open, the penultimate European Tour event of the year in Basel.
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