Menzies reveals why he was “so close to going home” before Players Championship 29 win

CAMERON MENZIES revealed he was “so close to going home” before battling through a nightmare journey to win Players Championship 29.

The world No26 claimed his fourth PDC ranking title and the £15,000 top prize in Den Bosch, beating Gian van Veen 8-4 in the final with a superb 96.77 average and three maximums.

Menzies, 37, saw off Jeffrey de Graaf 6-3 in the quarter-final before edging Kevin Doets 7-5 in the last four.

The Scot admitted he was exhausted by the time he finally arrived in the Netherlands after a chaotic day of travel.

He said: “If you found out how bad yesterday was, I’m sure you could hear David Sharpe shouting at me.

“I had an absolute nightmare of a day yesterday. Flights cancelled, we travelled for 17 hours yesterday and, honestly, we were so close to going home.

“Right now, I am so glad I didn’t. I just wanted to win a game today just because I was knackered.

“To go and win on the ProTour, that’s four now. Not bad for a diddy.”

Menzies also revealed dehydration was behind his withdrawal from the World Matchplay earlier this year after he was escorted from the stage during his second-round clash with Ross Smith.

The Ayshire thrower has since taken extra measures to look after his health, including losing weight and paying closer attention to his diet and hydration.

He added: “I’ve lost a bit of weight. It was last year in Switzerland I genuinely thought I was going to get a heart attack on a plane.

“I went through scans and it runs through my family, heart problems. They told me to lose weight and I have done that.

“With Ross Smith, I went through tests and stuff and they thought it was dehydration. But it caused my blood pressure to go high because I was panicking.

“I’ve never had that before. I went through bloods for more serious issues with my heart.

“I went to Glasgow Jubilee after it. I did ten hours there and everything came back okay, which I hope it is because that is me having to look after myself more.

“So, once this is done, I go back and drink electrolytes, little things like that. We are not all athletes here, I get that, but they are long days.

“I have been here since 9:30am. I am getting older now and I need to look after myself.

“My breakfast was porridge and I have not eaten all day. Usually I would go and get a pizza, but I try and be better.”

Elsewhere, former world champ Michael Smith was thrashed 6-0 by Sebastian Bialecki in round one and failed to have a dart at double.

Michael van Gerwen suffered another early exit after losing 6-3 to Benjamin Pratnemer in the last 128.

Dimitri van den Bergh’s return to the ProTour also ended in disappointment as he was beaten 6-0 by Kai Gotthard.

Words: Aaron Nijjar

Image: Taylor Lanning