CAMERON MENZIES was pulled up by rival Jim Williams for “rattling” his darts during their Players Championship clash.
The Scot delivered another impressive big stage win, taking out the Welshman 6-2 in Minehead on Friday.
But Menzies, 35, admitted afterwards that the pair had exchanged words midway through the match.
He said: “It was a good start, Jim wasn’t Jim. He pulled me up for rattling my darts. I can’t deny I was doing it. But I would never do it tactically.
“I do apologise to Jim if it put him off. I’m not tactical but I’m fidgety.
“Jim told me to hold my darts. I do this all the time. The reason is years ago I had a set of darts, I broke one.
So one dart was remade for me and was slightly different from the rest. So I always made that my first dart.
“I’ve kind of kept doing that. My intention is not to cheat, I’ll play fair.
“I felt better there than at the Grand Slam. But I think the Grand Slam environment caught me out a little bit.
“A bit of inexperience, I kind of got involved in the tournament. The Grand Slam was maybe a stepping stone to where I want to be. I’ve still got a long way to go.”
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Menzies also revealed he HATES seeing himself being so emotional on the stage.
He added: “Recently a guy sent me a TikTok video and it shows my emotions and I hate it. I know I’m different and I act stupid. I genuinely hate it with a passion.
“But it’s because I want it so much. I want to be a player, I want to win titles. I’m not saying I’m good enough but I want to win titles.
“I’ve got a lot to learn on the stage. I feel like on the floor because I’ve been there for so long. I need to learn on the big stage.”
The Scotsman has been in a relationship with fellow darts star Fallon Sherrock since 2021.
The 30-year-old rose to fame in 2019 when she became the first woman to beat a man at the PDC World Championships.
Both Sherrock and Ayrshire darts hero Menzies have qualified independently for Ally Pally again this year and it would be a matchup for the ages should the draw pair them together.
List of all-time Darts World Champions
BELOW is a list of Darts world champions by year.
The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions.
That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once – Barney also won four BDO titles – and none of Eric Bristow’s five BDO titles are included.
- 1994 – Dennis Priestley
- 1995 – Phil Taylor
- 1996 – Phil Taylor (2)
- 1997 – Phil Taylor (3)
- 1998 – Phil Taylor (4)
- 1999 – Phil Taylor (5)
- 2000 – Phil Taylor (6)
- 2001 – Phil Taylor (7)
- 2002 – Phil Taylor (8)
- 2003 – John Part
- 2004 – Phil Taylor (9)
- 2005 – Phil Taylor (10)
- 2006 – Phil Taylor (11)
- 2007 – Raymond van Barneveld
- 2008 – John Part (2)
- 2009 – Phil Taylor (12)
- 2010 – Phil Taylor (13)
- 2011 – Adrian Lewis
- 2012 – Adrian Lewis (2)
- 2013 – Phil Taylor (14)
- 2014 – Michael van Gerwen
- 2015 – Gary Anderson
- 2016 – Gary Anderson (2)
- 2017 – Michael van Gerwen (2)
- 2018 – Rob Cross
- 2019 – Michael van Gerwen (3)
- 2020 – Peter Wright
- 2021 – Gerwyn Price
- 2022 – Peter Wright (2)
- 2023 – Michael Smith
- 2024 – Luke Humphries
Most World Titles
- 14 – Phil Taylor
- 3 – Michael van Gerwen
- 2 – John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright
- 1 – Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries