Cameron Menzies went from fixing a kitchen sink to throwing his way into the second round of the World Championship, where reigning champion Michael Smith survived an opening-night scare.

Menzies is a plumber by trade and had to do a day’s work on Friday, changing a waste basin, fixing a burst water main and repairing a kitchen sink before facing Austrian Rusty-Jake Rodriguez at the Alexandra Palace.

The colourful Scot won 3-0 to book his place in the second round where he will play Dave Chisnall on Saturday afternoon.

“I never thought this would happen. I was really panicky today,” he said. “I was working but it kind of chilled me out, it made me realise that darts is a hobby and a very lucky one, too.

“I changed the waste in a basin, I couldn’t get the pedestal out because it was concreted in. Then I did an emergency which was a burst water main and I fixed it, then I went to a tenant’s house to fix a bath and she wouldn’t let me in.

“Then I went to another job to fix a kitchen sink, so my job is maintenance-wise. Basically, it is burst pipes and blocked drains, it’s not pretty.

“I was so nervous, I knew that game meant a lot. What happens now is a bonus but winning that game meant the world to me.

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“Going to work chilled me out. It made me realise that it is not the be-all and end-all. I am a worker. I would like to be in a situation where I can give up my job and do this full-time, but I have a long way to go.”

Menzies will be able to take bragging rights back to the home he shares with girlfriend Fallon Sherrock, who is in first-round action on Monday night.

The 34-year-old was happy to avoid his girlfriend in the draw because he thinks she would “batter” him.

“You don’t understand how many issues we had,” Menzies said. “She went down for the draw, I was on the computer going, ‘Please’. There’s a handful of players you don’t want to draw and Fallon is up there.

“I play Fallon in the house and I beat her eight times out of 10 but she has a moment when she smashes me, which is fair enough.

“I know for a fact up there on the stage she would batter me. It’s her stage, she would batter me. I was like, ‘Please not Fallon’.

“Everyone was texting me asking if I was playing. Rusty is a very good player but I would take him over Fallon in a heartbeat.”

Smith began the defence of his 2023 title in nervy fashion as he was taken all the way by world number 66 Kevin Doets.

‘Bully Boy’, who beat Michael van Gerwen to win a maiden Ally Pally crown at the start of the year, was facing the prospect of becoming the first defending champion to go out at the first hurdle since 2009 when it went to a final-set decider with the Dutchman having the throw.

But a brilliant 142 checkout in the opening leg of the fifth set settled any nerves and Smith was able to go on and win 3-2, ensuring a happy Christmas as he does not return to action until December 27.

2010 finalist Simon Whitlock won a final-leg decider to see off Paolo Nebrida, claiming a 3-2 win to set up a second-round match with Gary Anderson.

Fallon Sherrock knows she has to prove herself on the World Championship stage again.

Sherrock became darting royalty in 2019 when she was the first woman to win a match at the PDC’s biggest tournament at Alexandra Palace, reaching the third round.

She was nicknamed ‘Queen of the Palace’ after that landmark few days but has not won another match there in two return visits.

The 29-year-old is back this year and is hoping to prove that her exploits in beating Ted Evetts and Mensur Suljovic four years ago were not a fluke.

“I feel like I need to prove why I am coming back,” she told the PA news agency. “I know I have got the game and every time I have been so close, the scoreline might not have come out the way I thought the game went.

“It has always been so close. I feel like the more games I have played it makes me even stronger every time I go back. It is going to happen again, I don’t know when, but I am going to win again and hopefully, it is this year.

“I always love this time of year, it is great memories going back there.

“I don’t feel expectation anymore, I maybe did going back the first time, but this is my fourth time now.

“People don’t treat me any differently anymore, they know I am good at darts and know I can win a match. I feel like I am part of the set-up. It doesn’t scare me playing these players anymore.”

Sherrock’s life changed forever when she burst on to the scene.

She is a regular on the lucrative exhibition circuit, was made an MBE this summer and also appeared on the reboot of famous TV show Bullseye.

“It is mad. My whole life has completely changed,” she said. “I do sit there and think how lucky I am, not a lot of people get the opportunities I get.

“I always think your life is planned out for some reason. All the bad things that happen, good things come out of it and I think these are the good things. I just have to take every opportunity I can.

“Anything I do, it is going to propel the sport for the women, so I try not to think about it too much.

“I want to win and help progress the game and push the sport further. If I can do it again at the Worlds it will help the sport more.”

Winning the whole tournament might seem optimistic given the quality of some of the leading players, but Sherrock, who has hit two nine-dart finishes this year, says anything is possible.

“I can go as far as I want,” she said. “I take each game as it comes, I never think too far ahead. I have got to the quarter-finals before in main TV events, the possibilities are endless.

“You have to take each game as it comes, in a big tournament like this there is no point looking too far in advance. I just want to play these players all of the time, I want to see how I can hold the pressure.”

Peter Wright admits he “created a monster” by allowing Luke Humphries to claim his first major in October, but does not think the hottest player on tour will win the World Championship.

Wright missed three match darts to beat Humphries in the quarter-finals in Leicester, allowing the 28-year-old to take victory and go on to win the tournament.

He quickly followed that up by lifting the Grand Slam of Darts and the Players Championship last month, which means he will head to Alexandra Palace for the season-ending spectacular as favourite.

‘Snakebite’, who ended a near two-year major trophy drought by winning the European Championship recently, thinks it could be too soon for Humphries this year.

“He is favourite because he has won three out of the last four majors, and I won the other one,” two-time world champion Wright told the PA news agency.

“I was the only other person to get close to him. It’s my fault, I created a monster because I had three darts at the Grand Prix to beat him and that was his first major. If I’d done that things would have been different.

“He’s a great darts player but I think it is a little bit too soon. Yes, I think he will win the worlds but just not yet.”

Wright’s second world title won at the start of 2022 must seem like a long time ago for the 53-year-old, who has struggled for consistent form.

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He still remains confident he can become just the third person to win more than two world crowns and says his winning know-how gives him an advantage.

“I believe I can win it, I am not playing until December 20 so it gives me three weeks tinkering with my darts to make them 95 or 98 per cent perfect, that’ll do.

“There is potential to become a third-time world champion. That is in my sights and I am looking forward to it.

“It puts a lot of pressure off my shoulders to know I have won it twice. I think I have got a lot of advantage over a lot of the field.

“I am nowhere near my best at the moment, but I know what it takes to win. I decided to go and put the practice in and I went and won the European. I have put my focus on the Worlds, to be prepared for winning it one more time.”

Tournament sponsor Paddy Power have teamed up with Prostate UK and will donate £1,000 for every 180 thrown.

Wright believes there will be more maximums than ever before as a result and urged men to answer three simple questions to check their risk for a disease which affects one in eight men.

“It’s a great cause, the sponsor putting up £1,000 for every 180 hit, there was 901 last year and I think there will be more this year,” Wright added.

“I think players won’t switch down to 19, they will stay up there and try and get another 180 for Prostate Cancer UK. It affects one in eight men. I’m 53 so I need to be getting checked.”

:: It takes 30 seconds to answer three questions to check your prostate cancer risk. Do it now by clicking on the following link: prostatecanceruk.org/180-risk.

For her trailblazing exploits in track and field Sada Williams was on Thursday recognized by her home country of Barbados at their Independence Day National Honours ceremony.

Williams, who turns 26 on Friday, is a back-to-back World Championship 400m bronze medallist and is the first Barbadian women to win a medal at a global championship. She won a bronze medal in the 400m at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon and repeated the feat at the 2023 Championships in Budapest, Hungary in August. In so doing she became the first Barbadian athlete to win a global medal at consecutive championships.

She also won the 400m at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England and took home a silver medal at the NACAC Championships that same year.

For that and more, she was awarded The Gold Trident of Excellence Award in recognition of her outstanding achievements and dedicated service to her country. It was an honour to be appreciated, she said.

“I feel very honoured to be recognized this year and last year and I am hoping to continue to do great things reach further,” said Williams who was attending the Independence Day Parade for the very first time.