Mike De Decker was reportedly left fuming with fellow darts ace Cameron Menzies following their meeting at the recent European Darts Trophy in Germany. The two were competing for a spot in the quarter-final when the match descended into chaos. 

They had been locked at 5-5 during the race to six legs, with Menzies just missing double nine to complete a 138 checkout and wrap up the game. It would prove the first of several match darts missed in the 11th leg, with Menzies missing three more at double nine, before De Decker missed one at double 14 and a further two at double seven. 

By this point, the crowd were getting on the pair’s backs, but the real carnage was only just beginning. During his next visit to the board, Menzies opted to try and split his remaining score of 18 by hitting a single six with his first dart. Instead of following it with an attempt at double six, the Scotsman made the mistake of miscounting and accidentally went for double four. 

Floored – quite literally – by his miss, Menzies dropped to his knees and could only look to the sky in disbelief. Remarkably, De Decker – who was snubbed to join the likes of Luke Littler and Luke Humphries in this year’s Premier League Darts – missed further match darts of his own, meaning Menzies was able to return for yet another chance, which he managed to take away with ease. 

But, according to Vincent van der Voort, De Decker was left stunned by Menzies’ antics on stage in Germany. Speaking on the Darts Draait Door podcast, the Dutchman explained: “Mike completely lost it and couldn’t keep his emotions in check. He was furious after the match, and I can understand why.” 

Commenting on Menzies’ behaviour in general, fellow darts ace Dirk van Duijvenbode added: “You could make a new episode about him every week. He’s just a bit crazy—not in a bad way, that’s just who he is. At the Belgian Darts Open, he lost 6-5 in the first round to Canadian Matt Campbell. Even two hours later, he was still sulking and acting strangely—hugging Campbell over and over. I must have seen them do it six times! I just thought, ‘What on earth is going on here?”

Menzies was roundly criticised for his actions, but the arrowsmith was quick to clarify there wasn’t any gamesmanship involved. Speaking to Tungsten Tales, he explained: “I had only made the last eight of a Euro Tour once before as a Challenge Tour player. So when the game went to 5-5, the nerves just kicked in. My leg was shaking, and I’ve not had nerves like that before. I felt like I was 18 again. My hand was shaking, and my heart was racing.

“You know how nervous I was when I miscounted. Usually, that is not something I do. I made a bit of a fool of myself. I’m getting dogs abuse, with people saying it was tactics. I thought I had won. I just remember hearing that noise, then my heart sank. But because I had made that mistake, I wanted Mike to hit it. I wanted to be put out of my misery.”