BRADFORD darts ace Joe Cullen reached the last-16 of the German Darts Open over the Easter Weekend.

The Munich tournament was the second European Tour event of the year on the PDC calendar, and Cullen made a bright start, sweeping aside Andrew Gilding 6-2 in his opener.

He produced some fantastic darts in the match, averaging 99, and he ended the game in style by checking out with a magnificent 112.

That put the Wyke man into a last-32 encounter against his good friend Jonny Clayton.

The Welshman, seeded ninth for the event, was no match for the in-form Cullen, who cruised to a 6-3 victory on the final game of Easter Sunday.

The following day was an epic affair, with all the matches right through from the last-16 to the final being played.

But it was a blue Monday for Cullen, whose form earlier in the tournament and on his run to the last-16 at the first European Tour event of the season, in Belgium, completely deserted him.

He was well out of sorts, so his opponent, Dutch superstar Michael van Gerwen, had little trouble at the oche.

The three-time PDC World Champion showed no mercy, as he dismantled the Bradfordian 6-0.

He then thrashed Jermaine Wattimena and home favourite Martin Schindler to set up a final against current World Champion Luke Humphries.

But the Englishman had been in stunning form as well throughout the tournament, and ended up saving his best for last, roaring to victory by crushing van Gerwen 8-1 in the final.

The Dutchman’s hopes of adding to triumphs in this event in 2017, 2018 and 2019 were blown out of the water as Humphries threw an average of 112.66 - the second highest ever in a European Tour final.

Humphries racked up six 180s against van Gerwen and checked out twice with a bullseye for 170 as he sealed a sixth success at this level.