JOE CULLEN swept aside world number five Daryl Gurney to earn a spot in the last eight of the World Matchplay at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens on Tuesday.
The Yorkshire ace produced a dominant display, reeling off eight consecutive legs to complete an 11-3 victory against World Grand Prix winner Gurney.
Having seen off another seeded opponent in Gerwyn Price in the first round, Cullen made light work of the Northern Irishman to book his place in a second televised quarter-final.
“I felt comfortable, Daryl wasn’t himself but my job is to capitalise on his mistakes and that’s what I did,” said Cullen, who will take on tournament favourite Gary Anderson on Thursday.
“Any player in the world would be happy to hit half their doubles, I need to up my scoring and I will hopefully do so in the next round.
“To be honest I’m disappointed that this is only my second televised ranking quarter-final, I feel I should’ve made a lot more but now I’ve got the chance to kick on now and do even better.”
Cullen’s run is set to see him move into the top 16 on the PDC Order of Merit for the first time in his career.