Charlie Manby Speaks Out on Cameron Menzies After Explosive Post-Game Incident

Charlie Manby responded to a question about Cameron Menzies and his heated reaction to losing their first-round clash at the World Darts Championship.

Moments after missing two darts at double one to take his match against debutant Manby to a tie-break, Menzies put a firework out with his hand before punching the underside of the drinks table three times after losing 3-2.

The Scot appeared to immediately regret the outburst, holding his bloodied hand up toward the Alexandra Palace crowd as if to apologise for his actions.

Shortly after the incident, Menzies apologised and revealed that he has been grieving his uncle. “I am sorry that I reacted in the manner that I did,” Menzies said in a statement posted on his social media account.

“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 how much he thought of me. He treated me like a son."

Cameron Menzies walks off the stage with a deep cut after punching the water stand in anger. Image credit: Getty

Menzies continued: “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."

He added: “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, who is currently ranked 166th in the PDC world rankings, spoke to reporters after the match and was inevitably asked about Menzies' heated reaction to the result.

Asked if he sensed Menzies was losing his composure towards the end of the game, Manby agreed that there was an opportunity for him to pounce in that final set.

"Yeah, definitely. I think I back myself against anyone, so whether it's loss of composure or anything like that with a crowd, I just thought I did my bit and did it quite well," he said, as per Tungsten Tales.

The reporter then asked a question about Menzies punching the water table following his loss. "At the end, when he’s obviously lost his head, I’m guessing it’s not a moment you expect on your World Championship debut to see on that stage," he said.

Manby responded: "I was doing my own thing and I couldn't tell you really. So yeah, simple as that really."

Cameron Menzies speaks to Charlie Manby after the incident. Image credit: Getty

PDC issue update following Cameron Menzies incident at World Championship

Matt Porter, the chief executive of PDC, has confirmed that the Darts Regulation Authority will look into the incident, but stressed the importance of Menzies’ wellbeing.

“I spoke with Cameron and his management before he left the venue, and he knows there is support available from the PDC and the PDPA,” Porter said.

“Any incident of this nature is reported to the Darts Regulation Authority for review, but our main priority is the player’s health and wellbeing.”