Will Joe Cullen master the compulsory task against Ricky Evans?
Ricky Evans already gets in the second round of the current Darts World Championship 2023 with Joe Cullen a hammer draw and goes into the encounter as clear underdog. Having previously eliminated Fallon Sherrock from the competition, the Englishman is likely to face a second round exit against his compatriot Cullen.
Cullen is one of the top players of the PDC. This year “The Rockstar” already won the Masters 2022. In the final of the Premier League 2022 Cullen was runner-up. It’s quite possible that the 13th ranked player will convince at the World Championship as well. The bookmakers are currently only offering odds of 1.26 on Cullen vs. Evans for tip 1.
The clear favourite role will partly be due to the H2h between the two players. Joe Cullen has won the last six encounters against Ricky Evans. The last time was in March 2022, where “The Rockstar” prevailed over his compatriot with a 6:3 in the best-of-11.
Ricky Evans made it through the first round of the World Darts Championship for the sixth time in his current career. Last year “Rapid” Evans had to bow out in the second round against Daryl Gurney. It is quite possible that the 32-year-old will lose in the second round this year as well.
Joe Cullen – Statistics & current form
Joe Cullen remains a surprise this year. At the beginning of the year, the Englishman caused a sensation by winning the 2022 Masters title and reaching the final of the Premier League. Since then, however, Cullen has flown under the radar and has even fallen to 13th place.
Before the World Darts Championship Cullen was represented in the Players Championship Finals 2022. After eliminating in the rounds before already darts pros like Rodriguez and Huybrechts, Cullen successfully prevailed in the last 16 against the highly touted Scott Williams as well. Only against Humphries Cullen failed at the PCF 2022.
With the 3:10 defeat against his compatriot, Joe “The Rockstar” Cullen lost for the third time in the last nine matches. How far the World Championship adventure in the “Ally Pally” will go, however, remains to be seen. After all, the 13th ranked player does not have the best record at the World Darts Championship in recent years.
Will Cullen reach the third round again?
So far the best result at the World Darts Championship in London has been the fourth round. That milestone came at the 2021 World Championship when Joe Cullen was eliminated in the fourth round by Michael van Gerwen. Last year Cullen lost in the third round against Martijn Kleermaker. In the best of seven the Englishman lost 3:4.
Looking at the tournament tree of the World Darts Championship Cullen has a realistic chance to reach the last 16 this year. After a win against Evans the match against Heta is the next doable hurdle. Only in the round of 16 there is a top-class opponent for Joe Cullen in Smith.
In his last matches Cullen had an average over the 90 mark. This was also the case in his last match against Humphries, where “The Rockstar” convinced with a scoring average of 94.72. Because only three of 13 throws on the doubles were converted, there was nevertheless a clear defeat.
If the Englishman improves on that, the only question against Ricky Evans will be how high Cullen’s victory will be.
Last matches of Joe Cullen:
Players Championship Finals
27/11/2022 – Luke Humphries 10 – 3 Joe Cullen
27/11/2022 – Scott Williams 7 – 10 Joe Cullen
26/11/2022 – Joe Cullen 6 – 1 Kim Huybrechts
25/11/2022 – Joe Cullen 6 – 2 Rowby John Rodriguez
Grand Slam of Darts Final Stage
19/11/2022 – Michael Smith 16 – 15 Joe Cullen
Ricky Evans – Statistics & current form
Ricky Evans has eliminated the self-proclaimed “Queen of the Palace” from the competition – much to the displeasure of the darts fans at the “Ally Pally”. In the second round the 32-year-old will probably say goodbye to the World Darts Championship as well. Against Joe Cullen there will be a real test of endurance.
The Englishman is one of the fear opponents of “Rapid” Evans. Ricky Evans has not won against his compatriot since September 2018. Most recently, he even suffered six defeats in a row against “The Rockstar”. Betting fans who still want to place a bet on the underdog in Cullen vs. Evans can pick up odds of up to 4.00.
Win against Sherrock just a snapshot?
The win against Sherrock should not be overrated anyway. Ricky Evans only played with an average of 89.32 but had a better double rate. From a total of 21 throws on the doubles Evans converted ten checkout attempts and had a rate of 47.62 %. In comparison: Sherrock only had a double rate of 29.03 %.
Against Joe Cullen Evans will have to improve a lot to get even a hint of a chance to win. The Englishman is an unpleasant opponent with his high scoring average, so it is all the more important for Evans to convert the checkout chances. In the last meeting with Cullen Evans could only win three legs in the best-of-11 against his compatriot
Last matches of Ricky Evans:
World Darts Championship
21/12/2022 Ricky Evans 3 – 1 Fallon Sherrock
Players Championship Finals
25/11/2022 – Andrew Gilding 6 – 2 Ricky Evans
Players Championship 30
05/11/2022 – James Wilson 6 – 2 Ricky Evans
Players Championship 29
04/11/2022 – Florian Hempel 6 – 5 Ricky Evans
Players Championship 28
23/10/2022 – Ricky Evans 1 – 6 Jurjen van der Velde
Joe Cullen – Ricky Evans Direct comparison / H2H record
Joe Cullen and Ricky Evans meet for the ninth time overall. “Rapid” Evans has only managed to win one of eight matches against Cullen so far. However, since the last and so far only victory over Cullen, Evans has lost the last six encounters against his compatriot. Two of these six defeats Evans even conceded this year.
Neither at the Players Championship 2 nor at the European Tour 2 Evans could hold his own against Cullen. In both matches Cullen got a clear victory against “Rapid” Evans.
Joe Cullen – Ricky Tipp
Joe Cullen starts his World Cup adventure on Friday night. The Englishman has had to deal with a few setbacks in recent months. Surprising all the same, because the year 2022 started promisingly. Cullen was not only represented in the final of the Premier League 2022, but also won the title at the Masters 2022.
“The Rockstar” is not to be underestimated at the World Darts Championship and can be called secret favourite. Joe Cullen already proved several times in this calendar year that the Englishman can keep up with title candidates like Price & Co. The second round match against Ricky Evans is therefore a must-win for Cullen.
Like the bookmakers, we see Joe Cullen as the clear favourite and expect a comfortable victory for “The Rockstar”. In the case of Cullen vs. Evans, our betting odds of 1.53 are on a handicap win for Cullen with at least a two-set lead. We are betting six out of ten possible units for this.
