World Darts Championship star issues blunt response to rival’s meltdown | Other | Sport
Charlie Manby offered a very succinct verdict after his opponent at the World Darts Championship, Cameron Menzies, punched a table after losing to the young Englishman. Manby, 20, claimed a 3-2 victory in a huge upset over the world No. 26 that left Menzies furious.
Menzies, who led twice and grabbed a 2-1 lead in the match, punched the underside of the water table three times as Manby celebrated his victory. The water bottles fell off as a result and Menzies was left bloodied, clouding a historic day for Manby. Referee Kirk Bevins asked Menzies to stop, but the Scot was visibly upset and later apologised to the crowd, holding up his bloodied hand to offer an apology for his outburst.
Shortly after the incident, Menzies released a statement which read: “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, meanwhile, refused to comment on the matter and instead gave just 11 words in his response. He told SportsBoom: “I was doing my own thing, I couldn’t tell you really.”
The youngster was making his Alexandra Palace debut and lived up to the hype, having been compared to his close friend Luke Littler, having already beaten the Nuke’s average record on the Development Tour.
” Luke’s [Littler] number one in the world,” Manby added on the defending champion. “I get that. People see him completely different to how I see him. I’ve grown up with Luke; I played for England with him and going through all the JDC England events growing up as a really good mate.
“We have a good relationship and yeah, it does feel good because obviously he’s done what he’s done for the game, and I think it’s great. It’s good knowing that he knows where I’m at and acknowledges it. And how good of a player I am.”
