JOE Cullen warmed up for his appearance at Valley Parade next week with a return to the PDC Pro Tour out in Germany over the weekend.

The Bradford man is playing in an exhibition event alongside the likes of Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price in BD8 next Thursday, with the latter warming up nicely for that by winning both events in Hildesheim.

It was a less successful couple of days for Cullen, who suffered a nasty shock in his opening game in Players Championship 17, going down 6-5 to Lee Evans.

But he clicked into gear well the following day in Players Championship 18, starting off with a 6-3 win over Scott Waites.

The Wyke native downed Mervyn King by the same scoreline in the last-64, before beating popular Australian Simon Whitlock 6-4.

He defeated Andrew Gilding 6-4 in the last-16, before a one-sided quarter-final saw Cullen dismantle Darryl Pilgrim 6-0.

His run ended in the last-four though, as he was beaten by rising star Gian van Veen 7-1 in the semis.

The young Dutchman is not the finished article yet, which Price proved by winning the final 8-1, but the 21-year-old is showing a lot of promise.

Price had beaten Josh Rock 8-5 in the Players Championship 17 final 24 hours previously.