Luke Littler ‘p***ed off’ and Luke Humphries showing ‘a bit of cockiness’ ahead of Worlds

gave a telling distress signal after losing to in the Players Championship final over the weekend, according to a body language expert.The 17-year-old’s unstoppable run of form came to an end in Minehead, .Humphries had some kind words for his teenage rival after the match, saying: “I felt like I was a dart behind in a lot of the scenarios but there’s something that Luke does to you. He really drives me and makes me want to be a better player.”He’s a different calibre. He’s probably the best player in the world right now but there’s something about me that never gives up.”

Leading body language expert Darren Stanton believes Littler was showing signs of nerves during the post-match formalities, something he will need to address before returning to Alexandra Palace for next month’s World Darts Championship.Speaking to , Stanton said: “Littler was very nervous. He kept touching the top of his head. That’s a classic distress signal as in feeling awkward or uncomfortable in a situation, even though he was being given praise.”He was sweating a lot, which obviously isn’t helped by the lights, but essentially the repeated looks down and the hand-to-mouth gestures, and touching the back and top of his head, indicates a combination of stress, anxiety and a bit of being pissed off, to be blunt.”Stanton also suggested that although Humphries was being sincere while praising Littler, he showed ‘a bit of cockiness’ in his body language.

“Luke Humphries is pretty consistent in his body language,” added Stanton. “We aren’t seeing any signs of increased blinking. We aren’t seeing any, what we call, barbotage shoulder shrugs. There’s no fake smiles.”He has multiple anchor points, so sometimes people will shift their body weight into a different posture when they’re being deceptive or not genuine.”I think for the most part he was being pretty genuine here when he said he thinks Luke Littler is probably the best in the world.”There was a little bit of bravado in there, but at the end of the day he has won past [Littler] and everyone is competitive so there is a little bit of cockiness in there. A bit tongue-in-cheek. Nothing of a truly negative nature.”It remains to be seen if Littler or Humphries will come out on top at the World Darts Championship after meeting in last year’s final. Humphries was the winner on that occasion but Littler will be desperate to avenge his defeat at the next time of asking.