Cameron Menzies pulled off the upset of the first round at the 2026 World Matchplay. The Scot beat Luke Humphries 10-7 on Monday evening in Blackpool, sealing the match with a 170 checkout that sent the Winter Gardens into a frenzy.
The big story is this: Humphries, the world number two and 2024 champion of the event, was knocked out on his opening night. For Menzies, it’s the opposite: a first victory on this stage, a match won through sheer nerve, and a real statement following his victory at the Players Championship ’23 in early July. We’d been keeping an eye on his form ahead of Blackpool. This time, he’s delivered in a major televised match too.
Update, July 23: Cameron Menzies’ World Matchplay run ended in worrying circumstances. The Scot was forced to withdraw against Ross Smith after feeling unwell on stage while leading 2-1 at the Winter Gardens.
Menzies forced to withdraw as Ross Smith reaches the quarter-finals
According to Sky Sports, Menzies became dizzy during the fourth leg, was helped off stage and was later checked over by medical staff. The match was abandoned, sending Ross Smith into the 2026 World Matchplay quarter-finals.
Put simply: the story moved in two days from a brutal upset of Humphries to a forced exit, much more human than sporting. Smith advances, but the immediate focus is Menzies’ condition. DartsNews also reports that the match was halted on medical grounds after a bright start from the Scot.
The official PDC clip puts the key image back where it belongs: Menzies pinning 170 to shut the door on Humphries.
Cameron Menzies slays world number two Luke Humphries with a show-stopping 170 finish to win it 🪄🏴 pic.twitter.com/BA04Nbf6WG
PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC), July 20, 2026
A 170 to shut the door on Humphries
The PDC’s official report describes a match that got off to a flying start, with seven consecutive breaks early on. Menzies first made his mark with a 129 checkout via a double-double to take a 3-2 lead. Humphries responded straight away with a 167 checkout to close the gap before the first interval.
From that point on, the match took a different turn. Menzies took five legs in a row to lead 8-3, whilst Humphries seemed to be struggling to keep up. But we know the danger: against a player of this calibre, nothing is ever really over. Humphries strung together four legs in a row, and the lead became much more precarious once again.
It is precisely this that makes Menzies’ victory all the more significant. Instead of succumbing to the comeback, he rediscovered his killer instinct at the crucial moment. His 170 checkout, also highlighted by Sky Sports, didn’t just end the match. It nipped Humphries’ comeback in the bud.
Why this defeat matters for Humphries
The score tells one thing; the timing tells a slightly different story. Humphries isn’t losing to an unknown player, but he’s leaving Blackpool in the first round despite arriving with a formidable reputation: former world champion, winner of the 2024 World Matchplay, and still tipped as one of the favourites for the week.
In a major that’s so short from the outset, the first round is unforgiving. A shaky start, a few missed doubles, an opponent who senses the door is still open, and the match turns on its head. Humphries’ comeback, from 8-3 down to 8-7, showed he still had what it took to turn the match around. But Menzies had the final say, and that is what changes the way the match is viewed.
Menzies confirms that his season has taken on a new dimension
Menzies is no longer just an unpredictable player capable of pulling off an upset against a big name. Since Leicester, he has won, secured victory in Blackpool, and then knocked out a major favourite at the Winter Gardens. This sort of run doesn’t settle everything, but it clearly changes the perception of the player.
After the match, Menzies admitted, according to Sky Sports, that nobody had given him much hope – not even himself. That’s also what makes this victory so interesting: it was by no means a match they controlled from start to finish. He had to weather Humphries’ comeback, manage the tension in the closing stages, and then find the most decisive finish possible just when things looked like they might fall apart.
| Key point | Stat |
|---|---|
| Tournament | Betfred World Matchplay 2026 |
| Round | First round |
| Venue | Winter Gardens, Blackpool |
| Score | Cameron Menzies beats Luke Humphries 10-7 |
| Turning point | Menzies’ 170 checkout to seal the win |
| Tournament update | Menzies withdrew against Ross Smith in round two |
A shaken draw, but one clear priority
Humphries’ exit had opened up a section of the draw. Menzies’ withdrawal closes that route abruptly and sends Ross Smith into a quarter-final against Gerwyn Price, who beat Rob Cross 11-5 in the same session.
For us, that is the point to take from it now: the World Matchplay has already produced elite passages from Luke Littler and Gary Anderson, but it has also just reminded everyone that a tournament can turn without a proper sporting finish. The next question is how Menzies recovers. In the short term, Blackpool now moves toward a Smith-Price quarter-final that few had mapped out this way.
