CULLEN FACES RAP AFTER LIVE TV F-BOMB

JOE CULLEN faces a Darts Regular Authority fine after dropping the F-bomb live on Sky Sports.

The Rockstar beat Bradley Brooks 3-0 in the Worlds but said his performance was “f***ing cracking” in the post-match interview with Abi Davies. 

Cullen, 36, hit the headlines for storming out of his press conference a year ago, stating that no one had shown him any respect for not making him favourite for a clash with Wessel Nijman.

But it was deja vu as he hit out at Brooks being tipped by the bookies to beat him this time round. 

Cullen, who will win at least £25k in prize money by reaching the second round, said: “It was cracking, f***ing cracking. I didn’t mean to say that sorry, that’s a fine sorry I’ll pay it now. 

“I knew I was up against a good performer in Bradley. He’s had a great year. 

“But again I think it was a little bit similar to last year. My son told me that Bradley was the favourite for this match. I was like really?

“Brad’s had a great year but I’ve got a lot of experience on this stage, Brad’s not. 

“In the first set I was a bit nervy, edgy. I think that’s what I had to do today. 

“That was my mindset going into this, don’t give him any encouragement, play like you can, he won’t beat you.

“I was bang up for it, honestly. I was a bit subdued the week before. Sorry for the swearing. That’s Abi’s fault – she referenced the Gavin and Stacey thing, and the response included a swear word so she’s paying half the fine!

“I like to think I’m honest and decent at what I do, and if you listen to 100 interviews this week you’ll probably hear the same monotone stuff, so hopefully it must be refreshing to hear somebody speak their mind and not resort to one-dimensional answers all the time.

“It’s a big part of me – I’m a big believer in getting your personality across. You get so many one-dimensional yes-no men, you play so well all year and then at the end of it you don’t get in the Premier League. There’s a recency bias in terms of who makes it into the Premier League.”

Cullen faces Mensur Suljovic or David Cameron next. If he gets past them it could be a blockbuster Last 32 with Luke Littler. 

He said: “If I’d had a favourable draw in the first round, I might have looked a bit further into the draw – but I knew I had to play well against Bradley, and I’m not looking past Mensur Suljovic or David Cameron.

“Littler is incredible – I do so many exhibitions with him and he’s just very, very good at darts. I won’t be looking past next Sunday but if I get to play Littler I’ll be relishing that.”

NITIN KUMAR became the first Indian player to win a game at the World Championship. 

The 40-year-old produced a huge shock to KO Richard Veenstra 3-2 in a thriller. 

Kumar reckons his win could inspire a BILLION new players from the continent. 

He said: “I’ve been playing for 30 years, the dream was always to be world champion. 

“My blood pressure is high, I’m going to get a heart attack. I love it. 

“This win can open the floodgates to a billion of them (players). In eight or ten years you could have eight in the top top in the world walking out to Bollywood music. Don’t blame me, it’s happening!”

DOM TAYLOR admits it “hurt massively” after coming back from the drugs ban that delayed his Ally Pally debut.

The World No65 comfortably beat Oskar Lukasiak 3-0 in his opening World Championship clash on Sunday afternoon.

Bristolian Taylor, 27, missed last year’s Worlds after being suspended as a result of a positive drugs test just a month before the tournament.

He revealed: “It hurt massively, hurt massively. Biggest letdown of my life. But I’ve rebounded back and here we are.

“I wasn’t speaking to anyone, keeping myself to myself and just practising.

“If I didn’t believe I was going to walk home with a million pounds, I wouldn’t be here.”

Image by Taylor Lanning.