Cullen And Van Veen Win at Players Championship Night 5 and 6
Joe Cullen launched a stirring fightback from 7-4 down to defeat Gian van Veen and triumph in Tuesday's Players Championship Five final in Leicester.
Cullen came back off the canvas to deny the young Dutchman a maiden PDC ranking title at the Mattioli Arena, averaging 104.18 and landing nine maximums to clinch his first Players Championship crown since February 2022.
The former Masters champion was a finalist in the year’s opening ProTour event last month, and he continued his resurgence in the East Midlands to secure his first PDC title for over two years.
“I think this is the best win of my career, because of the adversity I have had to endure over the last year,” reflected an emotional Cullen.
“When you’re slipping down the rankings and you’re doubting yourself, there is nothing worse in darts.
“I had all-sorts going on away from darts and I wasn’t practicing. There was no motivation there and that’s why I slid down the rankings, but ultimately the buck stops with me.
“I think I’m down to number 22 in the world. There’s not 21 players that are better than me in the world, but the rankings don’t lie.
“I’m there for a reason, but I am doing everything I can to get myself back up those rankings!”
Cullen kicked off his campaign with a scrappy 6-3 success against Richard Veenstra, but he soon found his range, crashing in a ton-plus average in his second-round win over James Hurrell.
He then reeled off four straight legs from 4-2 down to stun world number one Luke Humphries, before accounting for Dutch duo Christian Kist and Kevin Doets to seal his spot in the semi-finals.
There, he fired in a sensational ten-dart leg to complete a 7-5 victory over World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker, which set up his showdown against Van Veen.
UK Open runner-up James Wade also impressed at the Mattioli Arena, averaging 115.92 in his second-round victory against two-time Women’s World Matchplay champion Beau Greaves.
Elsewhere, Gary Anderson hit the day’s other nine-darter, producing perfection in the penultimate leg of his opening round tie against Ryan Joyce.
Gian van Veen won his first PDC ranking title at Players Championship Six in Leicester on Wednesday, defeating Luke Humphries 8-3 in the final.
Having lost to Joe Cullen in Tuesday's Players Championship Five final - in which he missed six match darts - Van Veen bounced back to go one better at the Mattioli Arena.
Van Veen defeated world number one Humphries in his fifth ProTour final, having previously come runner-up in four Players Championship events and a European Tour event.
"After what happened yesterday, this feels amazing," said reigning World Youth Champion Van Veen.
"I've had two incredible days here; I felt a bit hard done by yesterday and I was heartbroken after I lost the final, so to rectify that today is unbelievable.
"I've been playing well so far this year and my goal was to win a title; I knew I was the highest-ranked player without a ranking title.
"I've achieved that now and this win will give me massive confidence going into a busy next few weeks."
Van Veen's run to the title began with comfortable wins over Steve Lennon and Krzysztof Ratajski before coming through a last-leg decider with Connor Scutt to reach the last 16.
There, he defeated fellow-Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena and backed it up with further convincing wins over James Wade and Madars Razma to reach the final.
The final saw Van Veen race into a 3-0 lead, and the Dutchman kept his composure to deny Humphries a route back into the contest.
Elsewhere, World Champion Luke Littler lost a last-leg decider to Dom Taylor in round two, while Michael van Gerwen fell at the same stage to Ryan Meikle.
Wednesday's action saw two nine-dart finishes hit in the first round by Humphries and Alan Soutar in their matches against Andy Boulton and Littler respectively.
The PDC ProTour season continues with Players Championships Seven and Eight in Hildesheim on March 17-18, with coverage from four streaming boards broadcast live through PDCTV.
2025 Players Championship 5
Tuesday March 11
Mattioli Arena, Leicester
Last 16
Gian van Veen 6-3 Dom Taylor
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Lukas Wenig
Luke Littler 6-2 Scott Williams
Damon Heta 6-3 Martin Lukeman
Mike De Decker 6-3 Sebastian Bialecki
Rob Owen 6-5 Gary Anderson
Joe Cullen 6-2 Christian Kist
Kevin Doets 6-5 James Wade
Quarter-Finals
Gian van Veen 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Luke Littler 6-1 Damon Heta
Mike De Decker 6-2 Rob Owen
Joe Cullen 6-3 Kevin Doets
Semi-Finals
Gian van Veen 7-6 Luke Littler
Joe Cullen 7-5 Mike De Decker
Final
Joe Cullen 8-7 Gian van Veen
Players Championship 6
Wednesday March 12 2025
Mattioli Arena, Leicester
Last 16
Kevin Doets 6-4 Rob Cross
Ross Smith 6-0 Stephen Burton
Luke Humphries 6-3 William O'Connor
Damon Heta 6-4 Sebastian Bialecki
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Gerwyn Price
Madars Razma 6-2 Gary Anderson
Gian van Veen 6-1 Jermaine Wattimena
James Wade 6-3 Ryan Joyce
Quarter-Finals
Ross Smith 6-3 Kevin Doets
Luke Humphries 6-5 Damon Heta
Madars Razma 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Gian van Veen 6-2 James Wade
Semi-Finals
Luke Humphries 7-4 Ross Smith
Gian van Veen 7-1 Madars Razma
Final
Gian van Veen 8-3 Luke Humphries
Nine-Darters
Luke Humphries hit a nine-darter in his first round tie against Andy Boulton.
Alan Soutar hit a nine-darter in his first round tie against Luke Littler.
