World Championship star uppercuts table three times in furious showing | Other | Sport

Cameron Menzies took out his frustrations by punching a table three times in a furious meltdown at the PDC World Championship after suffering a 3-2 loss to Charlie Manby. The world No. 26, who was the heavy favourite to beat the 20-year-old Englishman on debut, was booed by the shocked crowd after completely losing his head.

It was a tense state of affairs headed into the deciding frame, with Menzies requiring a checkout of 84 as he stepped up to the oche. After missing a 20 on his first dart and instead hitting a one, the Scot shared a look of confusion. After missing the adjustment and landing a 17 with his second, he was spotted then staring off into the distance before landing a treble 20 to leave himself with a checkout of just six to Manby’s 68. The youngster found a single 16 rather than hitting the double to check out, giving Menzies a lifeline to claw his way back into the set.

However, Menzies missed the double three with his first throw, landed a single on his second and threw his third dart away in frustration as the atmosphere inside Alexandra Palace continued to intensify. Manby then landed a single eight rather than a double on the third time of asking, once again allowing Menzies to have a crack at checking out at three as the Sky Sports commentator was heard saying: “This could get silly, couldn’t it?”

Menzies was unable to do so once more, however, landing two ones before returning to the back of the stage as Manby stepped up again with eight needed. As chants of “Charlie” rang out, the 20-year-old landed a four, a two and a double one as the arena erupted in jubilation, while Manby ran across the stage, thrusting his arms in elation.

After a quick celebration, the scenes turned ugly, however. As he approached Menzies to shake his hand, the 36-year-old was spotted unleashing three hard uppercuts at a table, as the commentary team was heard saying: “But my word, Cameron Menzies is beating the living daylights out of the water table. He kept his calm all the way through the game, but could not take his chance to save himself right at the end,” as boos rang out from the onlooking crowd.

After realising the error of his ways, Menzies then put his hands up in apology, as Manby continued his celebrations. He was also spotted walking off stage with a bloody hand.

GRAPHIC PICTURE WARNING

Menzies later apologised by issuing a statement, revealing he had experienced a family tragedy recently. He said: “First of all, I would like to apologise for what happened. 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.”

Manby, however, was diplomatic when asked about the incident. “I was doing my own thing. I couldn’t tell you really,” he said.

Speaking immediately after his win on his debut at the PDC World Championship, Manby told Sky Sports: “Yeah, it was absolutely amazing. It’s not just me who’s been up here today, it’s been them lot who’ve come with me, so I can’t thank them enough. Obviously I did what I did but a lot behind the scenes has come from them.”

Asked when he felt settled, he responded: “Yeah, I think when I won my first set I settled a lot. It were a good feeling that, getting in and just getting settled on a stage where you’ve never played before.”

When asked about what was going through his head in the final leg of the deciding set, Manby added: “I couldn’t tell you to be honest. It was just trying to keep calm, get up there and get it over and done with. It’s not as easy as it looks.”