Cameron Menzies “schoolboy error” blows UK Open dream

Cameron Menzies saw his UK Open title dreams shattered by a “schoolboy error” says TV pundit Chris Mason.

The Ayrshire ace was knocked out of the FA Cup of Darts after being timed-out from his Second Round match against Jamie Bain on Friday afternoon.

Menzies missed his five-minute warning after an excellent opening win over Wes Newton on the Main Stage, and Bain was subsequently handed a bye.

Mason said: “It was a bit of a schoolboy error. The general idea from most players is to stay close to the area you are playing in next.

“To be fair, there’s so many players here in Minehead, it’s quite tough to keep track of where to be at the right time.

“I think it’s Cameron’s first UK Open so he’s probably just been caught out. I think he stayed in a different practice area just to keep playing.

“It’s a genuine mistake from him and I feel sorry for him. It’s an awful way to go out of the tournament especially having played so well in his first game.

“He was excellent in beating Wes Newton, with 10 maximum 180s in the game. It’s just a shame he never got to play on.”

The other big talking point of the opening session was a bizarre ‘dance-off’ between Dimitri van den Bergh and Kirk Shepherd.

The Belgian did his usual walk-on stage moves but was upstaged by the former World Championship runner-up who did a David Brent dance impression to wow the crowd at the Butlin’s Minehead resort. 

Glen Durrant, appearing in his first major PDC event as a Tour Card holder, crashed out in the Third Round 6-2 to Northern Ireland’s Gavin Carlin.