Joe Cullen suffered a surprise first-round defeat at the German Darts Grand Prix on Saturday evening, falling 6-3 to Hungarian qualifier Patrik Kovacs. The loss came just days after Cullen had reached a Players Championship final earlier in the week, making the upset all the more unexpected.
Cullen's performance was well below his usual standard. The Englishman averaged just 82.40 and hit only three of his ten darts at double. After the match, a candid Cullen took to social media to deliver a scathing self-assessment. "That's up there with the worst performances of my career," he admitted. "Considering how I've been playing this year, the work I've been putting in and some positive results in recent tournaments, I felt embarrassed up there today! That kind of performance is not acceptable at this level!"
While Cullen licks his wounds and heads back to the drawing board, Patrik Kovacs advances. The Hungarian qualifier will face Ross Smith in the afternoon session in Munich on Sunday, looking to build on his seismic upset.
