Cameron Menzies drew blood from his right hand after punching a table in anger following a shot first-round defeat to England’s Charlie Manby in the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace.
The 36-year-old Scot, seeded 26th in the tournament, lost a final-set decider against the 20-year-old debutant, who is ranked 166th in the PDC World Rankings.
After Mandy sealed a stunning victory, Menzies turned to the Paddy Power-branded drinks stand that was holding his water bottle and darts case and punched the underside of it three times.
Menzies was left with a deep cut on his right hand and it was already bleeding heavily as he exited the stage.
The Scot, who had twice led after winning the opening set before going 2-1 up, had missed a four darts to force a final leg and Manby hit on his seventh match dart start to win match.
Menzies did not lash out immediately as Manby wildly celebrated his winning moment but then thundered a series of blows into the bottom of the drinks table as the 20-year-old approached him for the handshake.
Manby appeared to be bewildered by his beaten opponent’s outburst and they shook hands after Menzies had collected his darts case that had been knocked off the table.
Menzies was then booed by some members of the crowd and the Scot held up in his hands in acknowledgement as he left the stage.
The Sky Sports commentator Glen Durrant said Menzies would regret his decision to punch the table for the rest of his life.
“It wasn’t the ending we all want to see,” Durrant said. “For Cameron Menzies, I think he will regret that for the rest of his life, it wasn’t a good watch.”
The co-commentator Stuart Pykes said: “I agree, [it was] an extraordinary reaction but we saw him walking off stage and he did put up his hand in apology. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing.”
Menzies later revealed that his father Ricky had been in hospital during his first-round match.
It is the second time in as many years that Menzies has been knocked out of the opening round at Ally Pally after he broke down in his tears during and following his exit to Leonard Gates last December.
“This is the greatest thing I’ve done in darts,” said the highly rated Manby, who advances to round two on his world championship debut.
