Protesters storm World Snooker Championship to cover Crucible tables in orange powder

By Chris Hammer

Snooker

Tue April 18, 2023 · 2y ago

There was chaos at the World Snooker Championship on Monday night when 'Just Stop Oil' protesters stormed the Crucible and brought play to a halt.

While one protestor was able to climb on the table being used by Robert Milkins and Joe Perry before releasing a bag of orange paint dye, the one on the other side of the partition - where Mark Allen was playing Fan Zhengyi - was hauled off by referee Olivier Marteel before they got chance to ruin it.

The protesters were then held backstage by tournament security officials until the police arrived, and although the substance was hoovered up with the help of the BBC's Rob Walker, the table will be re-clothed overnight before any match can be played on it.

Whereas the concluding session of Allen v Fan could resume around 45 minutes after the incident, the opening session of Milkins v Perry will now be played on Tuesday evening when their second session had originally been scheduled. Their concluding session will be re-arranged at a later date.

A Just Stop Oil protestor ruining one of the Crucible tables pic.twitter.com/WQA5deuL6n
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) April 17, 2023

Just Stop Oil issued a statement which read: “At around 7:20pm, two Just Stop Oil supporters have disrupted the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, interrupting play.

“The pair proceeded to cover the tables in orange powder paint before being removed by security and arrested.

“They are demanding that the Government immediately stop all new UK fossil fuel projects and are calling on UK sporting institutions to step into civil resistance against the Government’s genocidal policies.”

Wow. Boos ring out as a protestor tries to climb the table at the Crucible during Mark Allen v Fan Zhengyi before being dragged off! pic.twitter.com/IfTH3pGXWU
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) April 17, 2023

Former world champion Stephen Hendry, on commentary duties for the BBC, said: “I have never seen that before at a snooker event. It’s a first.

“It is scary. Wow! You just hope the cloth can be recovered from that. It caught us all by surprise and then this happens.

“For me, straight away as a snooker player I am thinking: ‘Is the table recoverable?’ We don’t know what that is on the table.”

Fantastic to see @robwalkertv getting stuck in, helping to clean the table. What a legend!!#WorldSnookerChampionship #Crucible #RobWalker pic.twitter.com/L6Jds7uiUq
— Steve (@MaximumSnooker) April 17, 2023

It is not the first time play at the Crucible has been subject to unlikely interventions. In 2008 a streaker danced around the table prior to the start of the final session of the final between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ali Carter.

Last year, a pigeon briefly interrupted play midway through the second-round match between Mark Selby and Yan Bingtao.

You've got to LOVE John Virgo's first words on commentary when play resumes. After all the build up he has absolute zero interest in mentioning the protestors.

Then Mark Allen chips in beautifully after his pot 👏😂 pic.twitter.com/Kjx17eJSaU
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) April 17, 2023

Allen and Fan were given a standing ovation upon their return to the arena, and Allen duly responded by turning a break of 24 into a 126 clearance to black as he resumed the event in style.

Another year, another Crucible invader to give snooker more publicity! #WorldSnookerChampionship pic.twitter.com/ND5VxD7buB
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) April 17, 2023

Having duly gone on to complete a 10-5 win, Allen said: “I’ve got to be honest, I was completely oblivious to what was going on, but fair play to Olivier and the security staff who were totally on the ball.

“It could have been a lot worse – you saw what happened on the other table and how much disruption it caused. I was quite chilled, I just waited in my dressing room and had a cup of tea.”

Asked about the methods used by the protesters, Allen added: “I don’t quite get it – I don’t know enough to have a valid opinion but I’d say there are better ways of going about it than disrupting a major sporting event.

“I feel like talking about it now is giving them airtime they don’t deserve, because it is two idiots disrupting what should have been a nice night of snooker.”