Joe Cullen felt he blew the chance of his first professional title – despite earning a £3,000 quarter-final pay day in the Austrian Darts Open.

The 22-year-old from Wyke bagged one of the biggest scalps of his career when he dumped world number five Simon Whitlock.

Cullen also beat Brendan Dolan and Mark Walsh in Wiener Neustadt before bowing out to eventual winner Justin Pipe in the last eight.

He said: “I would have taken a quarter-final (place) before I went over there. But the way it was going, I just felt so comfortable. The way I was playing, I really felt I could go all the way and win it.”

The former postman, beaten 6-4 by Somerset’s Pipe, was left cursing a costly missed double to break his opponent at 2-2. Needing a double eight, he hit the wrong bed and bust on a double 16.

“I had that chance to break him and then missed one dart at double five to get him back again,” said Cullen.

“But it’s horrendous playing Justin because he is so slow. I know he is not doing it deliberately to wind you up but it’s very difficult to play against.

“You try to block it off while he’s throwing but, with 2,000 people there making a lot of noise, it was hard.”

Cullen’s overall performance boosted his chances of making the cut-off point in the Pro Tour order of merit to qualify for the lucrative World Matchplay in Blackpool in July.

Australian Whitlock called his display “sensational” after their second-round clash. Cullen won 6-4 after ‘The Wizard’ had fired a nine-darter in the second leg.

Cullen said: “I’d been practising well before playing him and just missed a double 12 for a nine-darter myself. Then we went out there and he threw one straight away!

“That’s the first time that has ever happened against me and the crowd went mad. It took about 90 seconds before we could start again.

“I won the next three legs but then made the mistake of looking at the big screen next to the board. It was showing the averages and I was on 110. I was really buzzing with that and lost my concentration for a bit.

“He got back to 4-4 before I managed to finish off the last two. It was a decent win for me against a player like Simon but I’m still a bit disappointed not to have gone further while I had the chance.

“But that’s a good feeling to have. It just makes you more hungry to go all the way next time you get that chance.”

Cullen returns to domestic action with the next round of the Players Championship in Birmingham this weekend.