Joe Cullen jokes about bizarre 40-dart leg at Austrian Darts Open: 'At one point I said shall we flip a coin!'

Joe Cullen reached the last 16 in extraordinary fashion at the Austrian Darts Open. The Englishman defeated Frenchman Thibault Tricole 6-2, in a match that will be mainly remembered for a chaotic sixth leg.

In that leg, both players tangled on double 1, leading to a true marathon of more than seven minutes. In the end, Cullen managed to win the bizarre leg by a whopping 40 darts, extending his lead to 5-1.

Afterwards, Cullen, ranked No. 24 in the world, was able to laugh about it. “It was one of those normally when your stood behind you get a feeling the other guy will hit it. But I thought he has no chance of hitting it and I knew I had no chance either," he said.

Cullen even joked to Tricole to let fate decide. “At one point I said shall we flip a coin! I don’t think I would have been as jovial if I was on the losing end of it."

Although the match yielded an average of only 77.13, Cullen looked back on his play soberly. “The first leg was a bit iffy but after that I settled into the game.

The bizarre sixth leg, according to Cullen, showed that even at the highest level such a moment can happen. "At any standard that just proves whether it be professional, pub darts or youth darts that leg is still in there for somebody.”

After his 6-2 victory over Tricole, Cullen is expected on stage again Sunday afternoon in the Steiermarkhalle. Then he will play Damon Heta, the number three seed, in the last sixteen. Heta narrowly won 6-5 against Karel Sedlacek in the second round.