Darts player Joe Cullen insists he was disrespected by the media before beating Wessel Nijman at the PDC World Championship on Sunday.
Cullen won 3-0 to reach the third round of the tournament despite being perceived as the underdog beforehand.
He gave short answers during an interview with Sky Sports after and then later stormed out of his press conference.
“I’ve been shown no respect, so I won’t be showing any respect to any of you guys tonight,” he said. “I’m going to go home, cheers.”
Before his outburst, Cullen spoke to talkSPORT and further claimed that there was ‘horrific’ coverage ahead of the game.
“I enjoyed it,” he said after his win. “I think all the stuff beforehand, that he’s favourite and whatever else, I think it was the best thing that could have happened to me personally because he’s not as good a player as I am and I think some bookies had him 2/5, horrific.”
When responding to a question asking if it was disrespectful, Cullen said: “Am I allowed to swear? 100 per cent it’s disrespectful. This is not a reflection on Wessel, he seems a top, top kid but he can’t control what other people say and do.
“The way that he’s been talked about, out of his control, has been sort of a detriment to this because maybe I would have played like that but honestly, I can’t remember the last time I was this up for a game.”
Cullen was then asked about his reaction at the end of the game, and he continued: “I just thought to myself I kept it sort of reigned in the majority of the game, there was a couple of outbursts.
“But I just thought, ‘Don’t do something that you’ve not done the whole game’, show a bit of respect to Wessel as well because as I said at the start of this interview, nothing away from the dart board has been on him but I was just so up for the game.”
“I can’t express over the microphone how much I was up for the game,” he added. “I’ve never been that up for a game in my life.”
Cullen also said: “I just don’t understand. The bookies, I get, because they’re looking at form on the year and stuff like that but…
“Is it Wessel’s second time at the worlds? Yeah, he was lucky to get through Friday [against Cameron Carolissen]. Again, this is no disrespect to Wessel, Carol played incredible darts, and I saw the interview afterwards and Wessel backed up what I’m saying.
“It’s so hard to explain. I think Wessel has got the media to blame for that loss, not me.”
Cullen finished by saying: “2024 has been tough, it’s been up and down away from the darts, I’ve had a lot on my plate away from the darts, but so has everyone else. I’m not about to sit here and cry the poor tale, if I’d lost the game I’d still be saying the same sort of thing.
“If I’m honest, I’ve been so ill this week. I’ve not thrown darts for six days until Friday, honestly I’ve been so ill, but I just knew my mind was stronger than my actual practice game and I knew I’d win today.”
Cullen, the 2022 Masters champion, has reached the third round of the PDC World Championship for the fifth time in his career.
Standing in his way of a first ever appearance in the fifth round is former winner Gerwyn Price, who beat Keane Barry 3-0.
