Luke Humphries 'angry' gesture spotted in loss as Gian van Veen reacts

Gian van Veen sensed a moment where Luke Humphries became 'angry' during their World Matchplay clash on Saturday night and took advantage. The World Youth champion went on to secure an impressive 10-8 victory over the reigning title holder and blow the competition wide open.

Humphries headed to Winter Gardens in Blackpool as the one of the favourites to retain his crown, but the world No. 1 came up against a rising prospect with momentum behind him - and he never truly took control of the clash. Speaking after the match, Van Veen revealed that he grew in confidence towards the conclusion of the closely contested match as he felt his opponent's actions suggested he was 'angry'.

He explained: "I think when I make it, I think it was like 8-7, I started off with 140 and then a 180 and he walked onto the board but he snatched out of the board. I can sense that and I notice that.

"I had the same a couple of months ago against Luke Littler. When you sense some struggles from your opponent, like they're angry, it relieves some stress and I was like 'okay, he's angry, just do what you do and just keep on playing the way you are playing and all should be alright'.

"I felt really relaxed from that moment onwards so that's why I played the way I did in the end."

Van Veen stormed into an early 2-0 lead over Humphries before the Brit clawed it back to 3-2. The pair then tussled until the latter stages of the match, with neither player managing to move two legs clear until Van Veen made it 9-7.

Humphries managed to halve the deficit to 9-8, but it wasn't enough and Van Veen held his nerve to put the game to bed and continue on his impressive upward trajectory. He averaged 98.45 on the night, as opposed to Humphries' 95.69, and managed to check out 10 of his 25 doubles, two more than his opponent.

Van Veen will come up against a familiar face in the next round when he takes on his World Cup team-mate Danny Noppert in round two, who heads into the match in great form after an impressive 8-2 win over Cameron Menzies on Saturday.