''Can't remember the last time I felt so embarrassed'' - Joe Cullen apologizes after unacceptable defeat

Joe Cullen suffered a painful defeat in the first round of the 2024 Czech Darts Open in Prague on Friday afternoon. 'The Rockstar' went down 6-4 against one of the home nation qualifiers Pavel Drtil.

The 35-year-old Englishman has already had a disappointing year in 2024, but recently showed signs of a revival at the World Grand Prix with a strong run to the quarterfinal stage. Cullen was unable to continue this upward trend in Prague this weekend however, as he recorded an average of only 82.49 in defeat to Drtil.

A performance for which the former Masters champion was quite embarrassed, as he revealed on his official social media accounts after the event. ''I wanna apologise to all my fans for that performance today,'' he began his story. "It was not acceptable!"

''Everybody loses games but there’s a manner in which to do so. I can't remember the last time I felt so embarrassed after a game, congrats to Pavel who produced a memorable moment for himself,'' Cullen concluded.

This defeat has no consequences for Cullen in terms of qualification for the European Championship, which he was already sure of. 'The Rockstar' reached the final at the Austrian Darts Open earlier this season, which already put him firmly in the top-32 of the Euro Tour Order of Merit.