BRADFORD darts star Joe Cullen took the drastic step of missing a ProTour event earlier in the week, but says he has no regrets.

The ProTour number one, from Wyke, withdrew from the third Super Series event in Germany, citing issues around travel and that less was riding on it than usual.

Cullen explained: “Originally, we were given exemption from quarantine as sportsmen, but the week before we were due to go to Germany, that changed.

“They said we’d have to quarantine for 10 days when we got back so I weighed up my options, spoke to my manager, and decided it wasn’t worth it.

“The event works in two-year cycles, not a one-year one, so I wasn’t defending much, about £3,000. Admittedly that could have swayed it if I was defending more.

“But I opted out too because I’ve got a young family and my wife works for the NHS, so I didn’t want to cause problems for her.”

Cullen’s withdrawal doesn’t impact past or future Super Series events either, as he explained: “They’re all just separate ProTour events, which don’t affect each other.

“It’s just a way of having events that aren’t on Saturday and Sunday only, and the PDC can fit it in by making it four days and including a Monday and a Tuesday.

“It had a minimal effect on my ranking, really only on that £3,000 I was defending.

“The only person who was close enough to take my number one spot was a good friend of mine, Jonny Clayton. He chose to pull out too, so that made my decision even easier.”

Dimitri Van Den Bergh picked up the win in Cullen’s absence, the Belgian earning his maiden ProTour title to go with his shock World Matchplay success last July.

Cullen said: “It’s weird with Dimitri because he seems to be brilliant on the stage (TV events) but struggle on the floor.

“You have to do well on the floor and he wasn’t. He only just made it into the Players Championship last year for example, and 64 people compete in that.

“But winning the World Matchplay has catapulted him into that top 16, and he’ll have a lot of confidence from his performances in the Premier League this year.”

Cullen has not been competing in the Premier League, and he admits it is a quiet time at the moment, saying: “I’ve got no idea of when my next tournament is going to be.

“Officially it’s the World Matchplay in July, but hopefully the PDC will put something on in June.

“To be honest though, it’s a nice change for me to get some time with family.

“Most of last year was difficult but it was pretty stacked towards the end of the year, then this year’s been a bit different again.

“But I hope, by June or July, more events will be back on again and we can have them in front of a full crowd, with restrictions due to be lifted by then.”