MENZIES LOST LUGGAGE NIGHTMARE TURNS INTO WORLD CUP DREAM

By Phil Lanning

CAMERON MENZIES had to make a dash to rescue his darts from lost luggage before a flying display to whitewash Norway.

The Ayrshire ace and Gary Anderson walloped their rivals 8-0 in the World Cup opener in Frankfurt yesterday (Sat).

But just hours before the crunch clash, Menzies had to rush to the airport at 9am to retrieve his lost case which contained his darts.

It certainly didn’t affect the Dartan Army duo as they blitzed Cor Dekker and Kent Sivertsen, not missing a double as they roared into a 5-0 lead.

Menzies said: “I didn’t play bad, I didn’t play good. That was nearly as perfect as I could wish for after my case and stuff.

“But Gary stood up, he’s a two-time world champion and one of the best ever. That was great, Gary was brilliant and I loved every moment of that.

“He took the reins in that game there. He made me feel so calm. He grabbed that game by the scruff of the neck, he shoe-horned that game in for me. I just popped up when I wanted to. He made it all easy for me. I took the glory!

“If you go back to darts when I was very young, which is a long time ago, Gary was always my hero.

“Gary has been good to me since I was a young kid. He’s a Scottish legend for a reason, not just darts, as a man as well.

“To be on the stage with him with this badge on my chest is the most honourable thing I’ve done in my life. I’ll remember this day for the rest of my life.”

It was only the third 8-0 scoreline in World Cup history and all have involved Scotland. They smashed France in the quarters 8-0 in 2023 and then were on the wrong end of the same result to exit last year against the Dutch.

Anderson is clearly a calming influence on his new partner and hit six of the eight winning doubles. But Menzies was just as impressive in scoring and delivered the victory with double eight.

They now face the Republic of Ireland duo Willie O’Connor and Mickey Mansell in the quarter-finals on Sunday afternoon.

Anderson said: “If we can carry that on, we’re doing alright. Cammy went treble 20, bang. The doubles at the end there, thank god he got it.

“The Irish are a good bunch of boys, they are bang on. We’ll have a good game.

“Cammy will enjoy it, he’s got the Scotland shirt on. He’ll have that on for a long time now. It’s going to be on his shoulders for the next few years.”