Van Gerwen rode his luck at times with his tie against Mensur Suljovic in particular seeing the latter miss multiple match darts but he also showed glimmers of being back to his best with a brilliant victory over James Wade.
Despite that though, he didn't add the title in Riesa to his collection for the first time and his wait for a 33rd European Tour title will go on till next year.
He took to Twitter afterwards to give full credit to Cullen but admitted he was 'bitterly disappointed'.
"Driving home bitterly disappointed with myself. My finishing wasn’t good enough and what I expect of myself," said the World Number One on Twitter.
"Full credit to Joe Cullen on winning his second title. Well done mate.
Now my focus is on next weekend and getting it right there."
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
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Driving home bitterly disappointed with myself. My finishing wasn’t good enough and what I expect of myself.
Full credit to @rockstar_13_ on winning his second title. Well done mate.
Now my focus is on next weekend and getting it right there.
Thank you for all the support 💚💚