"He was swearing the whole time" - Florian Hempel on Joe Cullen's striking contrast from ProTour win to qualifying dismay

In the latest edition of the GAME ON podcast, Elmar Paulke and Florian Hempel turned their attention not only to Hempel’s own situation but also to the mercurial form of Joe Cullen. The Yorkshireman lifted his second Players Championship title of the year last Wednesday with a string of superb performances. Yet just three days later, his inconsistency resurfaced at the World Series of Darts Finals.

Germany’s iconic commentator Paulke dissected Cullen’s 6–1 defeat to Damon Heta, the Australian sealing the win in style with a 121 checkout on double 18. “He wins Players Championship 27, he qualifies for the European Tour, everything seems to be going in the right direction,” Paulke said. “Then he comes on stage, plays, I think, an 81 average, doesn’t even know why and seems to be at a loss. He gives up the game relatively early and knows that he won’t win it.”

Hempel also shared a curious encounter with Cullen from the European Tour Qualifiers. “He wins the second Players Championship tournament of the week and I get him the next day in the European Tour Qualifier,” Hempel recalled. “I say: Congratulations for yesterday, and he says soberly: ‘thanks’. Then he’s leading 2–1, we both miss loads of darts at doubles. At some point he makes it 3–1 with what feels like the 15th dart at a double. We look at each other and just have to laugh. Suddenly the darts are flying straight again – only Joe’s aren’t finding the double.”

For Hempel, the contrast to Cullen’s display just 24 hours earlier was striking. “I wondered how he was able to win the tournament yesterday – and with 100 averages at times. That was a completely different Joe Cullen. He was swearing the whole time, using the F-word a few times. Insane. And then in the next qualifier he suddenly qualifies again, two hours later.”

Hempel revealed that Cullen’s frustration lingered long after their clash. “He was sitting two tables away and was still swearing for ten minutes after the game. I left at some point because it was unpleasant. I played the bad game a bit better, but he couldn’t cope with it,” Hempel said following his 6–4 win over Cullen at European Tour Qualifier 13 – just one day after Cullen’s Players Championship 27 triumph.

Cullen remains one of the game’s great enigmas as the late summer of 2025 unfolds: a player capable of brilliance one day, and bewildering struggles the next.