World Snooker Championship protest: what happened at Crucible Theatre - when will Robert Milkins match resume

Two protesters from the environmental activist group Just Stop Oil have been arrested after disrupting the World Snooker Championships.

A man, dressed in a Just Stop Oil t-shirt, climbed on top of the snooker table in use in the match between Robert Milkins and Joe Perry at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield on Monday evening (17 April). A woman attempted to mount a second snooker table on the other side of the playing area, but was prevented from doing so by a referee.

South Yorkshire Police confirmed that a 30-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage. The pair are currently in police custody.

In a statement, Just Stop Oil said: “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.”

It comes after the activist group backed animal protesters during the Grand National last weekend. Protesters from Animal Rising delayed the beginning of the annual horse race, while 118 people were arrested outside Aintree Racecourse for attempting to scale the fence.

When will the Robert Milkins match resume?

Play was suspended for the evening on the affected table between Robert Milkins and Joe Perry, while the match between Mark Allen and Fan Zhengyi resumed after a delay of approximately 45 minutes.

The opening session between Milkins and Perry will now be played on Tuesday (18 April) evening, when their second session had been scheduled. Their concluding session will be played on Thursday (20 April) morning.

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.

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.”