Leonard Gates defeated Cameron Menzies 3-1 on Monday night (Image: PA)
Leonard Gates has shed light on his post-match chat with an emotional Cameron Menzies after claiming a shock win at the .
Gates – currently ranked 91 places below Menzies in the PDC Order of Merit – sent the off-colour Scotsman crashing out of the year’s showpiece event in the first round, despite posting a modest 82.96 average.
Menzies was expected to make a splash at the Ally Pally after reaching the Grand Slam of Darts quarter-finals last month. But he was let down by his scoring and finishing on Monday night, and before Gates had thrown his match-winning dart.
After the contest, in which Menzies was booed by the pro-Gates crowd, the defeated 35-year-old posted an emotional tribute to his dad on social media which has since been taken down.
Gates has now revealed what he said to Menzies on stage after turning around to celebrate the win, only to find him in floods of tears. “I told him, I hope you can block it out and play the game,” said the American.
“Don’t get involved with negativity as someone is cheering against you. Focus on what you are doing. Go forward. I use that energy to block it out. It’s one of those things… you have to block out certain things.
Leonard Gates told Cameron Menzies to ‘block out the negativity’ (Image: Getty)
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“Do what you are there to do. I went back to the basics: throw your darts, check the scores. I hope I said things that will help him in his game, personally and in life also. He has to figure out what it is. If he needs more help. I hope I said something that will build his confidence.”
While Menzies has been sent back to the drawing board, Gates is set for a tough assignment against Nathan Aspinall in the second round on Wednesday night.
The Asp has endured a tough 2024 and battled with dartitis, but he claims to have made big strides before arriving in London.
“Every week I’ve been playing, my game has been getting better and better,” he told . “That little thing that has been part of my game [dartitis] has gone. I feel like I can’t be any better prepared or in a better headspace going into the worlds this year. I’m practicing hard on the exhibitions and doing everything I can off the oche. I am going to be ready.”