A frustrated Joe Cullen disagreed with a reporter in his post-match press conference after first-round opponent Bradley Brooks was labelled the favourite ahead of their World Darts Championship opener.
Coming into Sunday's contest, Brooks was the slight favourite following an impressive campaign, which included winning his first PDC title at the Players Championship in July after beating Gerwyn Price in the final.
The former World Youth champion was tipped to have a strong World Championship by Price, but 'The Rockstar' cruised into round two with a 3-0 victory on the Ally Pally stage, averaging 99 in the process.
Speaking in his post-match interview with Sky Sports reporter Abigail Davies, Cullen had to issue an almost immediate apology.
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When Davies asked him whether the win was "cracking" – a reference from the sitcom Gavin and Stacey – he replied: "It was cracking, love. It was f**king cracking!"
He then put his hand over his mouth, before quickly adding: "I didn't mean to say that, sorry! That's a fine. I'm sorry. I'll pay it now!"
Later on, in his post-match press conference, Cullen opened up on his underdog status coming into the contest against Brookes.
“I’m happy,” Cullen told reporters. “I’m happy with the performance. I’m all-around happy. It was a good performance, finished well, scored well – I can’t ask for much more, to be honest. Bradley Brooks was quite a tough draw on paper."
“Paper’s the key word there,” Cullen explained, insinuating that he had been written off before the game.
“Bradley’s had a good year, he’s played well, probably his best year to date. But I’ve been rubbish and I’ve still had a better year than him, so make of that what you will. That was a bit of motivation there.”
Brookes was the bookies' favourite to clinch a win, something Cullen questioned as he engaged in a heated debate with Sky reporter Rod Studd.
“I didn’t realise at the time that he was favourite,” Cullen said.
“My son told me – he said, ‘How’s Bradley Brooks favourite for the game?’ On a ProTour I’d expect that. I think Bradley would be favourite, 100 per cent. But not on that stage. Something comes into me. I’m just itching to do well on that stage.”
“I’ve been terrible all year, but this is where it matters," added Cullen. "You see so many people miss out on Premier League spots. They’ve won tournaments earlier in the year, but there’s a recency bias. If you do well here, this is what everyone remembers.
“You can get announced out as a Grand Slam champion or a Grand Prix champion, but there’s nothing quite like being announced out as a World Champion.”
Cullen continued to talk about the odds. “I don’t care in that sense,” he said. “I use it as motivation. I just think, how is Bradley favourite against me? How?”
When a journalist suggested the match should have been even money, Cullen replied. “On this stage?”
Studd later clarified that the market had initially opened evenly before Brooks' odds were shortened to 8–13. “I don’t look at odds,” Cullen said. “I did last year, but this year I didn’t. My son told me – he doesn’t really understand odds – and that was it. I use it as motivation, definitely.”
Rodd Studd has since responded to a clip of their press conference chat.
"I wouldn’t describe that as an argument," he said. "I like Joe. We have some fun debates about momentum or Joementum. He’s much better at throwing darts than me but I have a better grasp of betting markets."
Studd added: "He played ace today. I hope he carries on playing well."
Topics: Darts, World Darts Championship
Jack Kenmare