JOE Cullen was unable to defend his Hungarian Darts Trophy crown over the weekend, despite a promising start.

The Bradford ace took his third European title at the Budapest even last year, after edging out Dave Chisnall in an epic last-four clash before crushing William O’Connor in the final.

He nearly faced O’Connor again in the last-32 at the weekend, but the Irishman was beaten 6-3 by James Wade in his opener.

Wade then bowed out to Cullen, the Wyke man recovering from a sluggish start to win 6-4.

That put Cullen into a last-16 clash against one of the world’s best in Gerwyn Price, with the Welshman winning 6-4 after landing a perfect six out of six on his doubles.

Price bowed out in the semis, and Chisnall went on to win the tournament, making up for last year’s heartbreak at the hands of Cullen.

He averaged 104.82 in a high-quality final against Luke Humphries.

Humphries landed a nine-darter, the first on the European Tour this year, but lost 8-7, having been 7-5 up.

There is one more regular season European Tour event, the German Darts Championship in Hildesheim next month, before the European Championship in Dortmund a couple of weeks later.

Cullen and his fellow professionals will be turning their focus on to the World Grand Prix now, which begins next Monday.

The Bradford star will face Mike De Decker in his opener.