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Luke Humphries inspiring Cameron Menzies as honest Scots darts star sets Ally Pally target
Cameron Menzies admits cool king Luke Humphries is the calm inspiration for him to hit the next level in darts.
The honest Scots star makes no secret of the fact he gets anxious and worked-up before big events. Menzies is now heading back to the biggest of the lot at Paddy Power World Championships looking to storm the Alexandra Palace. The Ayrshire ace has shown he can do it and take his brilliant floor game to the big stages with an outstanding run to the quarter-finals of the recent Grand Slam.
And Menzies needs look no further than the World Champion and World No1 to fuel his belief. He told Record Sport: “The thing with Luke is that he’s come out and said he had anxiety problems and he was wanting to quit and stuff. And when you see him now, he’s the calmest guy there. He’s won multiple majors. He’s No1 in the world.
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“I remember he was tempted to quit because he was struggling with anxiety. That’s why I always say Luke is the guy that I aspire to because he struggled with this years ago. Look at him now. He’s number one in the world and he’s been phenomenal. So he’s had, I wouldn’t say demons as well, but it’s the stage that you need to try and get by.
“When you’re up on that stage, it’s you and them. There’s nobody else to save you. It’s just you. So it’s something that I need to try and learn. I’m quite emotional on the stage. I need to try and bottle that a bit more, just be a bit more composed on the stage.
“That’s my aim. Be more composed. Be more like what I’ve done on the floor and, hopefully, I can find the extra level to climb the rankings and make a career out of this.
“It’s quite hard to explain it, but I get worked up quite a bit. Like the nerves. Even when I’m playing, two days before the Grand Slam and stuff, I’m at work and stuff and my head’s not in work. My head’s thinking about this game of darts and the whole nerves and anxiety about it, maybe because of my inexperience at that level.
“Some guys take to the stage and are just born to play it. Some guys take a little bit longer. But, hopefully, I start bringing my floor game to the stage and make a good career out of this.”
Looking to the Worlds, he explained: “Aye, a bit nervous, but obviously it’s just more excitement because it’s the biggest tournament of the year. It’s where dreams can be made. Hopefully, a wee run at it would be a great end to a very good year for myself.
“That’s the plans anyway and I hope that works, I just need to see what happens on the stage. On the floor I think I’m playing really well. On the stage, I feel like I’m doing okay, but I feel like I’m not putting my A game yet. I hope to try and find it on the stage. I’m hoping to try and calm myself down a wee bit and maybe try and find that extra wee 10 per cent to maybe push on in my career.”
Menzies gets going on Monday week against Leonard Gates for a chance to meet Nathan Aspinall and, despite his terrific recent work, he’s keeping his targets humble. He said: “I know it sounds bad now because of the year I have had, but I always just say win a game. And then just go from there.
“Don’t get me wrong, if play the way I could, you never know. But winning the first game to me is major.”
