Joe Cullen angrily stormed out of a press conference following his victory over Wessel Nijman at the World Darts Championship. He whitewashed the Dutchman to reach the third round, winning all three sets to set up a meeting with Gerwyn Price.
Cullen went into the match as the slight underdog and was frustrated with Nijman being touted as the favourite. He gave short, tetchy answers during an interview on Sky Sports before carrying his anger into his post-match press conference.
The 35-year-old took aim at the assembled media for supposedly writing him off beforehand, vowing not to show them ‘any respect’ before getting up and walking out of the room.
He began: “I don’t know Wessel personally but I think the surrounding of the media led to his demise a little bit.
“I’ve struggled this year on the oche and off the oche so to find a performance like that, to be honest I’ve got you guys to thank because I don’t think I would have played like that if I had read some of the nonsense that I read beforehand.”
Cullen went on to reference Nijman’s previous ban for breaching betting and anti-corruption rules. In 2020, he was found guilty of fixing a match during the amateur Modus Icons of Darts at Home series, which took place during lockdown.
“The media attention that Wessel has got, again, this is not a reflection on him, he seems like a fantastic kid,” added Cullen. “He’s been caught up in a few things beforehand but he’s served his time and he’s held his hands up, like a lot haven’t.
“The way I’ve been treated with the media and things like that… I know you guys have no control of the bookies, but I’ve been shown no respect so I won’t share any respect to any of you guys tonight. I’m gonna go home. Cheers.”
Later in the session, Ian White booked a third-round meeting with Luke Littler by claiming an impressive victory over Ritchie Edhouse.
White, who hails from the same hometown as Littler, said: “He’s Runcorn’s number two. I’m from Runcorn and I’m number one! You want to cause an upset, I’m all for it.
“Luke Littler has done everything for this sport at the moment. Look at this crowd, the way they are singing. Everyone wants to come to the darts. That’s where you need to be at Christmas.”
