Cullen scraps his way past Gurney to make first World Matchplay semi-final: "It was pub darts for a little bit, I was just trying to beat his score"

Joe Cullen has made it into the semi-finals of the World Matchplay for the first time in his career. 'The Rockstar' defeated Daryl Gurney 16-11 in the quarterfinals.

"It was really scrappy," opened Cullen, who had raced into an early 5-0 lead before Gurney slowly started to peg his way back into the match. "You can't look a million dollars the whole time though so I felt like I really scrapped well. Every time he got a bit if encouragement I put out the flame so to speak."

Despite managing to keep Gurney at arms length, with the Northern Irishman not being able to get within a leg of Cullen for the entirety of the match, 'Rockstar' admits the pressure of being so close to a first World Matchplay semi-final did make an impact on his performance. "I don't normally get nervous but I was a bit edgy," he admits. "It was pub darts for a little bit, I was just trying to beat his score."

Cullen will take on Nathan Aspinall in the semi-finals on Saturday. "It's really cutthroat, especially with the tournament so open," he says before defiantly setting out his stall to add a second major title to his collection. "Three down two to go."

The tournament will be broadcast in full on Sky Sports going between Action and Main Event.

From Saturday, July 15 through Wednesday, July 20, broadcasts will begin around 7 p.m. ET. In addition, on Sunday, July 16, there will be an afternoon session starting at 1 p.m. After the second round, the starting time of the evening sessions moves up one hour.

On Sunday afternoon, July 24, the second edition of the Women's World Matchplay is scheduled to begin at 1:00 pm. Here, eight ladies will compete for the title at the most important women's tournament in the PDC.