JUST Stop Oil supporters have disrupted the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
The duo invaded the arena shortly after play began with a man interrupting the match between Robert Milkins and Joe Perry by jumping on the table where he released a packet of orange dye – the two protesters were then removed by security and arrested.
Play was immediately suspended as staff brought vacuum cleaners into the arena.
The affected table was covered and will be re-clothed overnight, with a decision to be made later on whether the match will resume.
🎱 NEW OIL AND GAS WILL SNOOKER US 🦺 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… pic.twitter.com/xWJXjW82jf
— Just Stop Oil (@JustStop_Oil) April 17, 2023
A female protester was also stopped from attacking the match between Mark Allen and Fan Zhengyi on table two by referee Olivier Marteel.
World Snooker Tour officials confirmed that the match is set to resume after a delay of approximately 45 minutes.
The environmentalist organisation was protesting against new UK fossil fuel projects and called on “UK sporting institutions to step into in civil resistance against the Government’s genocidal policies”.
It is the second time in three days that a major international sporting event has been disrupted, after 118 people were arrested at Aintree on Saturday as they tried to scale the perimeter fence at the Grand National
The Protests come after a William Wallace sword display was smashed with hammers by climate protesters from This Is Rigged earlier this year.
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.”
