Luke Humphries mocks opponent's celebration and throws 'mind games' back in his face

Luke Humphries goaded Dimitri Van den Bergh by mocking his opponent's celebration during a feisty World Matchplay clash. Leading 11-10, the Englishman was strongly placed to extend his lead, with just 106 left on the board compared to his opponent's 232.

But the Belgian then threatened to turn the tide with a maximum 180, and celebrated somewhat prematurely.

He turned to the crowd and jovially hunched his shoulders three or four times, smiling broadly as he prepared to take out 52.

However, he never got the chance to level. The reigning PDC world champion responded by hitting single 20, treble 18, and then double 16 to move 12-10 ahead.

And he instantly copied the celebration of Van den Bergh, and looked somewhat irked as he performed his own shoulder shrugs. "Ooohhh he's given it the full Dimitri chicken," said the Sky Sports commentator.

To be fair to Van den Bergh, he did see the funny side, and moved to briefly embrace Humphries. The Englishman's steely resolve also seemed to crack as he too burst out laughing.

And it was one way traffic from there. 'Cool hand Luke' reeled off the next four legs to prevail 16-10, setting up a fourth round clash with James Wade in Blackpool.

But Humphries already had reason to be fired up long before Van den Bergh's provocative gesture. The pre-match words of the Belgian ultimately came back to haunt him, after he bullishly talked up his chances while also seeming to take a shot at world No.1

"I have to believe that I can do it again (beat Humphries)." he said. "If I can go into a preparation where I say; 'I can give him a game', that's a big positive.

"Unfortunately for Luke Humphries, I'm just going to point this out now, he is the world champion and he's living in Luke Littler's shadow. That's something that has never happened before in the past."

Despite beating Littler in the final at Ally Pally in January, the teenager got revenge over Humphries in the Premier League final in May. But amid their intense rivalry, the pair have remained on good terms.