Rockstar rolls on to reach Home Tour semis

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A look back at the story of the sixth night of the PDC Home Tour Play-Offs, battled out by Joe Cullen, Chris Dobey, Jeff Smith and Martijn Kleermaker

A couple of months ago Joe Cullen was struggling for darting motivation, but having played more of the PDC Home Tour than anyone, he recorded another perfect evening’s work to reach the semi-final stage of the Play-Offs.

The Rockstar, ranked 16th in the world, beat Canada’s Jeff Smith in a winner-takes-all contest to end Sunday’s Group Six on top of the pile – birthday boy Chris Dobey relegated to third spot with Holland’s Martijn Kleermaker finishing bottom.

Cullen and Smith both booked their place in the second phase with three wins from three, but for Cullen it had been a second bite of the cherry having been edged out on Night 20 by Ryan Murray.

Both men kicked off the evening with two wins from two meaning Bradford and New Brunswick went head to head to join Rob Cross in the second semi-final group and after a nip and tuck contest, Cullen and Yorkshire took the bragging rights with a 6-4 win rounding off an entertaining evening.

“I have never been a fan of ‘competitive’ practice but I am playing alright and the Home Tour has been a big positive for me,” said Cullen.

“I felt like Jeff was coming on strong and I was hanging on a bit but I got there in the end.”

Cullen stretched his winning run to seven with a win over Kleermaker in the first match of the night. While he never matched the highs of Group 31 where a 106 average across the evening saw him become the penultimate player to reach the second phase, he was still too strong for the Dutchman.

World No 20 Dobey was the favourite to progress but he was up against it early on as a ruthless Smith was in no mood for birthday gifts. Clinical finishing and a 100 average from the Canadian was enough for a 6-1 win as Dobey rued missed opportunities and was left with a mountain to climb after a heavy defeat.

Smith, the 2016 BDO World Championship runner-up, stayed on to average just over 97 and fight back from 5-2 down to end Kleermaker’s hopes, the Dutchman missing three match darts in the final match of the contest.

Despite celebrating his 30th birthday, Chris Dobey had little to cheer as he failed to live up to his pre-night billing as the favourite

Dobey and Cullen returned for a pivotal contest. The pair are separated by just four spots in the rankings and Cullen, at 16, was to prevail in a high-class encounter that see-sawed both ways and featured a host of 12 and 13 dart legs.

Cullen’s victory meant it would be a straight shoot-out between himself and Smith and after Dobey ensured his birthday finished on a high note with a 6-3 win over Kleermaker it was game on to join Cross in the semi-final.

There was little to choose between the pair, with Cullen’s fast start giving him a 3-1 lead, taking out combination finishes of 92 and 93 while Smith was left waiting on double 18. But the Canadian, throwing from his boss’ purpose-built oche at the garage where they work, chipped away and proved the better player over the closing legs.

But having been so clinical in his early matches, Smith frittered away changes and Cullen made him pay, eventually sealing the win with a spectacular pair of double 19s for a 95 check-out and a 6-4 win.

Cullen’s win means four of the world’s top 16 are into the last eight where two semi-final groups of four will help decide who goes forward to next Friday’s Championship final.

Semi-Final Group One will be headlined by Gary Anderson and Dave Chisnall, while Mike De Decker and Jelle Klaasen will join them in the chase for the two places in next Friday’s Championship Group.

The action continues on Monday when either Nathan Aspinall, Jose De Sousa, Jamie Hughes or Jesus Noguera will join Cullen and Cross in the second semi-final group.

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