Play suspended at the Crucible after a protester jumped on the table mid-match and threw an orange substance everywhere; the group Just Stop Oil immediately claimed responsibility for the protest on their social media account
Last Updated: 17/04/23 8:20pm
A protester jumps on the table during the match between Robert Milkins and Joe Perry
The World Snooker Championship match between Joe Perry and Robert Milkins was delayed when a protester jumped on the table.
The man, wearing a t-shirt with ‘Just Stop Oil’ written on it, came out of the audience and jumped on the table during the middle of the first-round match, throwing an orange substance on it.
He was then swiftly apprehended by security and removed from the table.
A female protester was stopped from attacking the match between Mark Allen and Fan Zhengyi on table two by referee Olivier Marteel.
A 30-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman have been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage, and both are in police custody.
The protest group Just Stop Oil immediately claimed responsibility for the incident with a post on their Twitter account.
Beginning with the headline “NEW OIL AND GAS WILL SNOOKER US”, the statement went on to say: “At around 7:20pm, two Just Stop Oil supporters have disrupted the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, interrupting play.
“They are demanding that the Government immediately stop all new UK fossil fuel projects and are calling on UK sporting institutions to step into in civil resistance [sic] against the Government’s genocidal policies.”
Play was immediately suspended as cleaners brought vacuum cleaners into the arena and master of ceremonies Rob Walker was among those helping to sweep up the mess.
The match between Allen and Fan on table two was then able to resume, however table one was taken out of action for the rest of the evening and is due to be re-clothed overnight as a result of being covered in the powder.
The World Snooker Tour is to decide whether Perry and Milkins are able to continue their match on table two once the Allen-Fan contest has been completed.
Orange powder on the table after a Just Stop Oil protester interrupted the match between Robert Milkins and Joe Perry
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.”