"This year is definitely not the best of my career. I've been playing terrible" admits Joe Cullen

Joe Cullen has qualified for the quarterfinals of the World Grand Prix. 'The Rockstar' did not have it all his way against Daryl Gurney, but still managed to reverse the lopsided situation to win 3-2. In the quarterfinals, he will take on Dimitri Van den Bergh, who was victorious over Dave Chisnall.

It was a disappointing match from both players. Cullen had an average of 82.52, compared to 80.10 for Gurney. The doubles were also poor from both players. Gurney had an opening percentage of 43 percent and a doubles percentage of 32 percent. For Gurney, the percentages were even lower. The Northern Irishman had 33 percent when opening, and a finishing percentage of just 27 percent.

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“I felt comfortable for most of the game. I didn’t doubt myself at any point,” stated Cullen afterwards. “I’ve been struggling for the whole year, so I’ve been trying to rectify that by putting things in place and I think that showed tonight. I thought I showed great resilience and good fight, so bring on the quarter-finals!”

Joe Cullen in action at the World Grand Prix

As Cullen indicated, so far, this year is definitely not the best of his career. "I've been playing absolute terrible. It's not who I am, I've set myself high standards peculiarly over the four or five years and I've dipped from those standards," had admits. Nevertheless, the former Masters champion is determined to get back to his best. "Darts is all in your mind. Everyone's got the ability you know, it's about how much you want to nurture it and how much you want to put in, how much work. But I think I've got more ability than most, but I've not really put the work in to be honest. I've been trying to do things differently lately and it's beginning to come to fruition."

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