JOE Cullen was in action for a Players Championship quadruple header over the weekend, as he prepares for the European Championship, which gets underway in Dortmund tomorrow.

Wyke native Cullen will be taking on Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski in Germany, so the Barnsley events were a useful warm-up exercise.

In the first of those, Players Championship 25, Cullen stormed into the last-16 after beating Ted Evetts (6-0), Graham Usher (6-4) and Daryl Gurney (6-3), only to be knocked out 6-5 by Rob Cross in a thriller.

The Bradfordian did not last long at Players Championship 26, bundled out 6-3 in his opening game by Jeff Smith.

He fared even worse in event 27 the day after, after being thrashed 6-1 by Madars Razma in the last-128.

After two days without a win, Cullen looked to be back on track when he beat Adam Smith-Neale 6-2 at Players Championship 28.

But the Wyke ace could only make it as far as the last-64, where he was crushed 6-1 by James Hurrell.

Cullen will hope for a better performance in the European Championship.

He was knocked out in the opening round of the major in 2022, losing a high-scoring affair 6-4 to Ross Smith.

But the Bradfordian will take heart from his performance there in 2021, where he reached the semi-final before losing to Rob Cross.