CAMERON MENZIES broke down in tears and looked like he was struggling to breathe on an emotional exit from Ally Pally.
The Scottish plumber played the final two legs with tears rolling down his eyes as he was beaten 3-1 by American Leonard Gates, who had immense fan support, in the first round of the PDC World Darts Championship.
https://twitter.com/OfficialPDC/status/1868778499328119193Menzies – the boyfriend of Fallon ‘Queen of the Palace’ Sherrock – is an emotional guy, the sort of person who wears his heart on his sleeve on the TV stage.
But minutes after the defeat, Menzies posted a picture of his ill dad Ricky in a hospital bed, saying: “This is all.”
Mentally and emotionally, he was clearly struggling as his game imploded and qualifier Gates edged closer to the victory.
The Glaswegian missed 27 of his 32 double attempts and as his game unraveled in front of 3,300 people, as he wiped away the tears from his face, the situation got worse.
The scenes were actually distressing to watch and there was a fear he might not make it through the game – and could even pull out.
Members of the crowd were really poor and were verging on the edge of bullying by ironically cheering Menzies‘ throws even as he was visibly having a hard time.
Glen Durrant, the three-time Lakeside world darts champion, said: “On the floor, Cammy has been the best player in the room. He’s the one that has stood out.
“It feels like it is a different game when you go on stage. It is just not happening for him. He is full of emotion.
“When you look at his preparation, he will have to work out if he is to find a solution about why he doesn’t play on the stage as he does on the floor. He’s extremely talented.
“But at the end, it was a little worrying, I didn’t know if he was getting upset. If the heat was getting to him. It was a pretty bizarre ending.
“Very, very disappointing. He has people around him but he has to work it out himself. No point feeling sorry for himself. He’s a great darts player. He has to find a way through this.
“The excitement of playing on that stage is there but 16 per cent on the doubles was going to be his Achilles heel.”
Gates, 54, danced on stage after he sunk the final dart – this was match dart No5 – and he now faces Nathan Aspinall in the second round on Wednesday night.
Gates, a Texas lorry driver, said: “I was aware of Cammy. I want my opponent to play the best against me. So, I can see what I can do against them.
“I told him, use the energy, don’t look at it as a negative, look at it as a positive. Just use that energy, play a lot more darts, get better, keep showing the PDC what we can do.
“Nathan is a good darts player. I have to do better than what I did here. I am through. Merry Christmas. What can I say? This is frigging awesome!”
Gates added: “I told him, I hope you can block it out and play the game. Don’t get involved with negativity as someone is cheering against you.
“Focus on what you are doing. Go forward. I use that energy to block it out.
“It’s one of those things, you have to block out certain things. Do what you are there to do, I went back to the basics, throw your darts, check the scores.
“I hope I said things that will help him in his game, personally in life also. He has to figure out what it is. If he needs more help. I hope I said something that will build his confidence.”
