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 practising. 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.
The pair were flawless on the outer ring for the first nine legs of Tuesday’s final, with Van Veen leading 5-4 at that stage.
The Dutchman then won back-to-back legs to move to the brink of victory at 7-4, but Cullen’s third 11-darter of the contest in leg 12 sparked an improbable turnaround.
Cullen survived six match darts in the last three legs – including four in a dramatic last-leg shoot-out – converting a nerveless two-dart 67 outshot to complete the comeback.
Despite suffering deciding-leg heartbreak, Van Veen performed magnificently in Leicester, defeating Michael van Gerwen and Luke Littler on his way to pocketing the £10,000 runner-up prize.
The World Youth Champion stormed through to the last 16 with a trio of 6-1 wins against Stefan Bellmont, Greg Ritchie and Adam Lipscombe, averaging 106, 101 and 98 in each contest.
Following his 6-3 win over Dom Taylor in round four, Van Veen also averaged 108 to win through a compelling all-Dutch quarter-final against Van Gerwen, registering five 180s in the process.
Van Veen later ended Littler’s 19-match winning run in an epic semi-final, following up 110 and 127 checkouts with a match-winning 121 on the bull in the decider.
Littler had booked his place in the last four with a brutal 6-1 demolition of Damon Heta, reeling off six straight legs in 12, 12, 11, 13, 13 and 11 darts to prevail with a staggering 122.93 average.
Littler also recorded a hat-trick of 6-5 victories against Niko Springer, Adam Hunt and Dirk van Duijvenbode, overturning 3-0 and 4-0 deficits against Springer and Van Duijvenbode, while landing a nine-dart finish in his win over Hunt.
The World Champion was joined in Tuesday's semi-finals by De Decker – his opponent in Sunday’s Belgian Darts Open showpiece in Wieze.
The Belgian averaged 103 in his thumping first round win over Dennie Olde Kalter, before defeating Rusty-Jake Rodriguez, Thomas Lovely, Sebastian Bialecki and Rob Owen to reach the last four.
Owen completed the quarter-final line-up along with Doets, Heta and Van Gerwen, who averaged 108 and 111 respectively to dispatch Jelle Klaasen and Max Hopp earlier in the day.
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.
The PDC ProTour season continues with Players Championship Six on Wednesday, as coverage from all four streaming boards is broadcast live through PDCTV and bookmakers’ websites worldwide.
Full tournament results are listed in the Match Centre.
Click here for match stats through DartConnect.
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
Nine-Darters
Gary Anderson hit a nine-darter in his first round tie against Ryan Joyce.
Luke Littler hit a nine-darter in his second round tie against Adam Hunt.