Cameron Menzies, 36 year old Scottish professional darts player, punched a table three-times after a defeat at the World Darts Championship, and had blood on his knuckles which he wiped with his face. The dramatic scenes happened in a match where he led 2-1, but ended up losing 3-2 to a 20-year-old player, Charlie Manby, at the top PDF (Professional Darts Federation) event of the year.
Videos captured the moment, where Menzies first tries to stop a sparklet with his hand and then punches the hand three times, before saluting the player and apologising to the crowd, that starts booing.
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Menzies later sent an apology: "I am sorry that I reacted in the manner that I did. It's not an excuse, but I have had a lot of things on my mind recently and I suppose it all just became too much at the end".
"It has not been an easy time for me with my uncle Gary passing away recently. I saw him four days before he died and he gave a look which told he much he thought of me. He treated me like a son. Had I won the game against Charlie, my second match would have been on the day of Gary's funeral and that has not been lost on me in recent days.
Let me say again, that's no excuse for what I did on the stage. It was the wrong thing to do and I don't want it to take anything away from Charlie. He played well and deserved his win. This is not how I would like people to view me. Yes I can get emotional at times, but not like that and that wasn't right."
Menzies, whose best result at the World Championship is the semi-final in 2022, and has won two Players Championship title, couldn't hide his frustration as he was eliminated in the first round of the championship for the second year in a row. He also lost in first roundbroke down last year at the World Championship, and left in in tears in December 2024.