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Snooker world rocked as 'never-before-seen' act sparks chaos

The bizarre scenes left the snooker world in a state of shock and anger.

andrew reid
·3-min read
A protest forced one match at the World Snooker Championship to be abandoned and another delayed after a man covered a table in orange powder. Pic: AAP
A protest forced one match at the World Snooker Championship to be abandoned and another delayed after a man covered a table in orange powder. Pic: AAP

A wild protest has marred the action at the World Snooker Championship in England, with one of the matches at The Crucible forced to be postponed after a man covered a table in orange powder. The match between Joe Perry and Robert Milkins had to be suspended when a man got past security, made his way onto the middle of the snooker table and proceeded to cover it with the powder.

A female protest also thwarted after trying to climb onto another table where Mark Allen and Fan Zhengyi were playing, with security managing to apprehend her before doing so. The two protesters were both wearing ‘Just Stop Oil’ T-shirts, with the organisation behind a number of other protests at sporting events around the world.

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The official ‘Just Stop Oil’ Twitter account posted a message afterwards that read: "New oil and gas will snooker us”. Boos could be heard ringing out from the crowd at Sheffield's The Crucible, when the man hopped onto the table, with cries of “get him off” ringing out from the room of spectators.

Seven-time world snooker champion Stephen Hendry was working as a commentator for BBC and 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.”

Snooker world fumes over wild protest scenes

Just Stop Oil said the stunt was intended to put the British government under the spotlight in an attempt to halt all new UK fossil fuel projects. Viewers were left fuming by the protest, however, with many describing it as "madness" and "disgraceful".

Milkins and Perry's game was abandoned and is set to resume on Tuesday evening and the second session will start on Thursday morning. The match between Allen and Zhengyi re-started after a 40-minute delay.

Fan and Allen were greeted to a standing ovation when they returned to action on Monday. Allen, who had been on a break of 24, was unfazed by the drama and made a frame-winning clearance to pink of 126.

The protester was promptly removed by officials at The Crucible during the World Snooker Championship. Pic: AAP
The protester was promptly removed by officials at The Crucible during the World Snooker Championship. Pic: AAP

World Snooker later tweeted: "This is the Crucible. The show will go on." Local police said a 30-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.

Just Stop Oil have disrupted a number of sporting events in the past, including the English Premier League. Some individuals have attempted to tie themselves to goalposts during matches in England.

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