The World Snooker Championship is the latest high-profile sporting event to be disrupted by protestors after a Just Stop Oil activist poured a packet of orange powder paint over a table on Monday evening, forcing a 24-hour suspension in the match between Robert Milkins and Joe Perry.
Milkins was 11-0 up in the early stages of the opening frame when a man suddenly ran out of the crowd, jumped on to the table and began emptying the powder. It took 12 seconds for two security guards to get down the stairs of the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, and bundle the activist away, but the damage had long been done.
A female protester simultaneously tried to glue herself to the other table during the match between Mark Allen and Fan Zhengyi, but was stopped by the quick-thinking response of the referee Olivier Marteel. Both protesters wore T-shirts in support of climate change activists Just Stop Oil.
Play was suspended on both tables immediately after the incident as vacuum cleaners were brought into the arena – with the master of ceremonies, Rob Walker, among those helping to sweep up the mess.
Soon afterwards World Snooker ruled the table cloth was damaged beyond repair and would have to be replaced overnight. As a result the Milkins-Perry match will now resume on Tuesday evening at 7pm, with the venue being opened early on Thursday at 9.30am so the first‑round tie can conclude.
The match between Allen and Fan resumed about 45 minutes later.
After the incident Just Stop Oil issued a statement: “At around 7:20pm, two Just Stop Oil supporters disrupted the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, interrupting play.
🎱 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
“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.”
Robert Milkins vs Joe Perry will start on Tuesday evening from 7pm, with the second session taking place on Thursday morning from 9:30am.
Fans who had tickets for table one on Monday evening will be contacted by email with details.#CazooWorldChampionship
— World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) April 17, 2023
The 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 caught us all by surprise.”
The latest protest – and the publicity it immediately generated – will also raise concerns across sport of copycat incidents in the weeks ahead, especially as it came just two days after 118 animal rights protestors were arrested after disrupting the Grand National start.
