World Darts Championship 2025: Scottish star in tears amid exit as another Scot exits during bizarre game

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com 
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
Here’s the latest news from the World Darts Championship 2025.

The World Darts Championship 2025 has begun but it has been a rocky start to the tournament for Scottish hopefuls.

Musselburgh’s Gary Anderson will kick off his tournament this week and is one of the favourites after a strong 2024. Peter Wright meanwhile will be getting into the thick of things shortly as the Livingston-born thrower looks to put a difficult year at the oche behind him.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

On Tuesday during day two, there were shocks as James Wade became the first seeded player to exit at Alexandra Palace. And two Scottish players were in competition, Alan Soutar and Cameron Menzies. Here’s a round-up of the latest from Alexandra Palace

Soutar’s bizarre match

Soutar is out of the competition after an odd encounter Kai Gotthardt. A firefighter from Arbroath, he was swept aside 3-1 during a delayed clash after the German’s dart snapped in the opening set. The German reeled off seven successive legs to put the game beyond Soutar.

He said post-game: “I just wasn’t good enough. I couldn’t hit the treble 20 all afternoon. It’s disappointing because I know I’m better than that and, no disrespect, I’ve lost to an average player there. Maybe [I will be back stronger] but right now this is a painful one to take. I’m not a professional dart player so it’s always going to be hard to compete at the top level.”

Menzies in tears

For Menzies, he came into London looking to build on confidence found on the stage after making the Grand Slam quarter-final. World number 130 Leonard Gates came out on top in a 3-1 win where the Menzies struggled on the outer ring, and he looked distraught as the game progressed. He then wiped away tears in the latter stages of his first-round loss.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

His dad has been in hospital in the build-up to this tournament and afterwards, the 39th ranked player in the world posted a photo of his father in a hospital bed, with the message: "I didn't wanna post this, man... my dad, my hero."

Wright’s on the board

The next Scottish hopeful to try their luck is Wright. Snakebite had a Premier League campaign to forget in 2024 and hasn’t had much luck at any of the majors either, with Wesley Plaiser his opponent, after the Dutch debutant won 3-2 against Ryusei Azemoto in round one.

Plaiser said: "This was very tough. I was SO nervous the first two sets. I've never been so nervous in my life. I've been through a lot and been on a lot of stages, but this was so overwhelming. I know it's in there and people can say it's not, but the World Championship is really different. My first three sets were so terribly bad for my feelings, but luckily then the nerves subsided a bit.”

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.

News you can trust since 1873
Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice