‘Knew exactly what he was doing’ – Darts star doubles down on rival’s ‘cheating’ amid referee’s never-seen-before move at World Championship

Joe Cullen has refused to back down from his belief Mensur Suljovic cheated in their World Darts Championship encounter.

Cullen was dumped out of the tournament following a 3-1 loss to Suljovic in the second round at Alexandra Palace.

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‘The Rockstar’ was visibly frustrated throughout the contest thanks to Suljovic’s slow pace of play.

Suljovic also earned the ire of referee Kirk Bevins for taking too long to fetch his darts after winning the first leg in the fourth set.

But it all came to a head when Suljovic pinned double 10 to wrap up the victory.

Although Cullen shook hands with Suljovic, he was in no mood to offer any more congratulations and brushed off the Austrian’s attempt to bring him in for a hug.

Cullen also fired a steely glare at his rival before he exited the stage.

Following the contest, Cullen vented his fury on Suljovic’s slow play and accused his rival of ‘cheating’, stating the Austrian’s behaviour was ‘not darts’.

Cullen has now doubled down on his stance in an interview with the Telegraph and Argus but conceded his post-match comments represented ‘a bit of a head loss from myself’.

When asked by the publication if he wished he described Suljovic’s behaviour differently, Cullen replied: “I still personally think it is cheating.

“I’ve always said it since I started playing, if you’re doing something to deliberately affect the other player, I stand by believing that’s cheating.

“I’ve always got on with Mensur pretty well, so it was disappointing.

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“He knew exactly what he was doing and he did exactly what I expected, just a little bit worse.

“Ultimately he was very poor and that’s the most frustrating thing for myself, because I should win that game comfortably.”

Cullen added Bevins’ mid-match reprimand of Suljovic was something he’d ‘never seen before’.

Their second round match was one largely devoid of quality, as Cullen averaged 86.53 while Suljovic mustered a poor average of 81.95.

Cullen even reeled off a higher checkout percentage of 44.4 per cent to Suljovic, who finished with 23.7 per cent.

But Suljovic won in the category that mattered most to book a third round contest against defending champion Luke Littler.

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After the win, Suljovic expressed his surprise at Cullen’s frustrations and claimed he was simply playing his normal game.

“I don’t know, what’s his problem?” Suljovic said.

“I give him missed doubles, everything. I like Joe Cullen, a very nice guy.

“I never, ever play slow. I do it only for my game. I’m never doing this for him. Sorry, Joe, never do this. I love him, man.”