Furious Joe Cullen storms out of darts interview after slamming journalists
Sports round up 221224
Joe Cullen stormed out of a World Darts Championship press conference on Sunday after his convincing 3-0 victory over Wessel Nijman, expressing fury over perceived media disrespect.
The Yorkshireman, who delivered a commanding performance against his Dutch opponent, was visibly frustrated throughout his post-match media obligations.
His anger stemmed primarily from bookmakers installing the lower-ranked Nijman as favourite for the match, leading to a series of terse responses during interviews before his abrupt exit from the press room.
Cullen turned in a brilliant performance, averaging just over 98 and dropping only four legs throughout the match.
Joe Cullen was furious in his post-match interview
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His post-match on-stage interview was notably brief, responding with minimal words to the interviewer's questions.
When asked about letting his darts do the talking, he simply replied: "Yeah I did."
Questioned about his preparation, Cullen responded: "No, not really. I've been ill all week. I threw my first darts yesterday for the best part of a week."
When the interviewer inquired if it was his best feeling on a big stage in some time, Cullen tersely answered: "No."
In the post-match press conference, Cullen explained his frustration over the media coverage of his opponent.
"Honestly, the media attention that Wessel's got, again this is not a reflection on him," Cullen said.
"He seems like a fantastic kid, he's been caught up in a few things beforehand, he's served his time and held his hands up like a lot haven't."
Joe Cullen
The world number 14 then delivered his parting shot before leaving: "I think the way I've been treated with the media and things like that, I know you guys have no control over the bookies, but I've been shown no respect so I won't be showing respect to any of you guys tonight. I'm going to go home."
Earlier in the day, Cullen had acknowledged using the pre-match coverage as motivation for his performance.
"I've got to thank you guys because I don't think I would have played like that if I hadn't of read the nonsense that I did beforehand," he stated.
Joe Cullen STORMS OUT of Interview as he Slams Media For 'Writing Him Off'
— Darts Now (@DartsNow_) December 22, 2024
😡The Rockstar was not happy at being ranked the outsider against Wessel Nijman and did not finish his post match press conference pic.twitter.com/AFSyeNfukU
The former Masters champion referenced his struggles both on and off the oche this year.
"I'm 30 places ranked above him. I'm happy with the performance," he added.
Following his dominant victory, Cullen will now face Gerwyn Price in the next round.
When asked about the upcoming match, he responded simply: "Can't wait."
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