Tournament victory in tears – father and son commemorate deceased mother
Status: 03:30 a.m
Big emotions: Joe Cullen (right) and his proud father
Quelle: Credit: Taka Wu/PDC/Taka G Wu
Joe Cullen had reached the final of a major tournament for the first time. In the final of the Darts Masters, the Englishman was comfortably ahead. But then the great shaking began. After the victory, his father took the stage. Together they commemorated their deceased mother.
“That’s my boy,” Joe Cullen’s father said, pointing to the stage where the awards ceremony was being set up. The pride was visible in his eyes and also on his body, over which the “rock star’s” red jersey stretched.
The Filius had just won his first major tournament. The 32-year-old Englishman beat compatriot Dave Chisnall 11:9 in the final of the Masters. A deserved win for Cullen, who had been in fine form throughout the Milton Keynes weekend. After Daryl Gurney on Friday (6:2), he defeated Gary Anderson 10:1 on Saturday and didn’t give Michael van Gerwen a chance when the 24 best pros met in the quarter-finals on Sunday morning. Cullen won 10-7.
After beating the Portuguese Jose de Sousa 11:9, he also dominated the final, was already leading 10:7 and had match darts. Four times there was a chance to win the first tournament – four times Cullen, who had hit more than 60 percent of his doubles to date, missed.
Chisnall cut it to 8-10 and Cullen went on the next run, going to 40 points in 12 darts, only to miss twice on tops and then miss four double-10s. Chisnall grinned and closed in at 9:10.
Cullen doesn’t hit until the eleventh match dart
Cullen shook his head while his father lost his faith in the audience. His son was so close to his dream. Now he threatened to lose everything after all. “I felt good the whole game and then all of a sudden I thought I was going to win. And then it all went down the drain, as you could see,” Cullen later said. “The double 18 at the end was more of a relief. I fell over the finish line and that’s all that matters.”
Winning fists: Joe Cullen beat Dave Chisnall despite nervous problems
Quelle: Credit: Taka Wu/PDC/Taka G Wu
He deleted said 36 points in the first attempt, it was his eleventh match dart, and the winner immediately looked for the way off the stage. With tears in his eyes, he fell into his father’s arms.
Back on stage, he first received the trophy and then the microphone. “It’s not about the Masters. Winning a TV tournament in front of a live audience is what a darts player dreams of,” he explained, suddenly finding his father right next to him. Cullen senior was celebrated by the spectators, cheered and documented the pride that his son’s victory had triggered in him.
“It was special to have my father here. Losing a parent is always hard so it’s great to have my dad by my side and support,” Cullen said before tears broke out. “I lost my mom in October and it’s absolutely heartbreaking. That was for my mother,” he began again and held up the trophy.
Great emotions at the Masters. At the moment of greatest triumph, father and son commemorated the late love: “It’s bittersweet. I wish my mom would have been here to see me, but life isn’t always fair. I miss my mom a lot so this is definitely for her.”
