Luke Humphries shoots an arrow in half after a shock defeat in the Players Championship

LUKE HUMPHRIES appeared to shoot his arrows in anger after an embarrassing defeat to little-known Jurjen van der Velde at the Players Championship.

Reigning world champion Humphries fell short to world number 64 Van der Velde, who recorded a big 6-5 victory in Wigan to progress to the second round.

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After the Dutchman's winning throw, Cool Hand Luke shook his opponent's hand and then appeared to snap his own darts in half as he cut a frustrated figure.

Eagle-eyed dart enthusiasts noticed the gesture on TV and immediately flooded social media.

Some of them have even doubled down on previous claims that the Cheshire star is suffering from a World Cup hangover.

One fan tweeted: “Hangover from going to the toilet [world champion] claims another victim.”

Another commented: “Did he break his arrows at the end?”

A third posted: “This is one of the craziest consequences I've seen in any sport.”

This fan said: “It doesn't look like a good year for him.”

And he said, “The poisoned chalice that wins worlds keeps on giving every year.”

Humphries has been out of form since beating 17-year-old sensation Luke Littler in the world final just over a month ago.

The 29-year-old has since suffered three consecutive defeats to Littler.

The world number 1 then suffered another early retirement when he was shockingly beaten 6-0 by Ian White in Players Championship 1 at the same venue on Monday.