Patrick Bulen, a previous participant at the World Darts Championship, has been kicked out and suspended after exploding at a qualifying event where he took aim at the PDC
Patrick Bulen has been hit with a tour suspension after calling the PDC a “disease” and kicking chairs after a narrow loss.
The 55-year-old Belgian was in the in the midst of a qualifying campaign as he looked to earn a Tour Card for 2025 and 2026. Following a 5-0 win over Felix Hein, Bulen took on Dmitriy Zhukov. He handed got himself into a 4-3 lead before losing the last two legs to fall 5-4.
The match went into a decisive ninth leg but Bulen missed several match darts before succumbing to defeat. It’s then claimed that Bulen “gave the finger”, called the PDC “a cancer” and “kicked chairs across the room”.
A source said, according to Het Nieuwsblad: “Patrick Bulen was suspended for flipping the middle finger after his loss, calling the PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) a certain disease starting with ‘C,’ and kicking chairs across the hall. I often play against him in Belgian tournaments; he can be quite volatile.”
Bulen previously participated in the 2006 World Darts Championship. The 55-year-old known as ‘The Pitbull’ also formed the first-ever team at the World Cup of Darts featuring Rocco Maes and has also played at the World Masters.
Bulen advanced to the Final Stage with three points and a leg difference of +12 finishing 67th on the rankings. This had him among the top 82 and 12 quarter-finalists eligible for the final stage. He saw off Hein with a 92.78 average but in the Last 32, he faced Latvian Zhukov and lost the final two legs – missing multiple match darts.
Witnesses also claimed there were some physical altercations, which may have also led to Bulen’s suspension. In contrast Zhukov is now on three points and in the running for a Tour Card.