Darts star Cameron Menzies has opened up on the abuse he faced at the World Championships.
Menzies, 35, admitted the World Championships ‘hurt a lot’ after he went out in floods of tears during the early stages.
GettyMenzies has spoken out on the abuse faced by the fans during the World Championships[/caption]
During the tournament, Menzies revealed that his father Ricky had been recovering in hospital following a triple bypass operation.
It was an emotional time for Menzies, who crashed out of the World Championships to an American opponent ranked 130th in the world in their first round encounter at Alexandra Palace.
The fans at Ally Pally had bought into Gates’ showmanship at the expense of Menzies in what eventually turned out to be a partisan crowd in the American’s favour.
Sections of the crowd were heard subjecting Menzies to anti-Scotland chants while also jeering him whenever he missed chances to win a leg or failed to hit a treble.
Menzies left the stage in tears after the loss and has now spoken out on the difficult time.
He said: “I got a lot of s**t and a lot of badness. The most important person in my life was going through a bad time and I was getting a lot of abuse for it.
“I just wanted to be more chilled these days because I don’t like the way that I am.
“The Worlds [Championship] hurt a lot, I’ve kind of changed a little bit because I think I fell out of love with the sport.
“I grew up with this sport and then I needed support and got slandered.”
Fellow Scot Ally McCoist spoke about the ‘unacceptable’ abuse of Menzies during the match on talkSPORT.
“It goes with the turf I think, ” McCoist told talkSPORT.
“Cameron’s a brilliant lad, I know him, I spoke to him, smashing lad, particularly in an arena like that where he can hear it, see it, and it’s so visible.
“Anybody that has performed in an Old Firm derby, would tell you, particularly the opposition Stadium, the abuse that you take, with the greatest respect it’s unacceptable.
“Right, it is unacceptable. Some of the things that are shouted at football matches, in particular, any other walk of life, you did it in the street, you go to jail. So it should not be allowed.
“But there is an element of fans, 100 percent entitled to voice opinions at sporting events, people dancing and enjoying themselves having a couple of drinks.
“There’s something great about it, but if it starts affecting people’s mental health that’s something that should be looked at.”
He added: “There should always be a level of respect. There should always be, there won’t be probably in some cases, a level of respect between the fans and the participants.”