Just Stop Oil protesters stormed the tables at the Crucible, where the World Snooker Championship was being held, while two matches were going on in a viral video
This stopped the games. One person jumped on table one and threw orange powder all over the place, while another tried to get on table two.
Olivier Marteel, the judge, stopped a woman from protesting before she could get to table one. The protesters were then taken away by security, which temporarily put both games on hold.
Just Stop Oil protesters disrupt World Snooker Championship 2023 and storm tables, video goes viral
Absolute madness at the snooker!! #WorldSnookerChampionship pic.twitter.com/VcpjkDVaoi
— Lee (@GoonerLee180) April 17, 2023
The World Snooker Championship event happened when Robert Milkins played Joe Perry in the first round and Mark Allen played Fan Zhengyi from China. As staff tried to get the game going again as quickly as possible, the host, Rob Walker, was seen vacuuming the table. The match between Fan and Allen started up again after a 40-minute break. The other game was supposed to go on later that night.
🎱 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 protesters wore T-shirts that said “JUST STOP OIL.” They are thought to be from the Just Stop Oil Group, which is an environmental group in the UK. Through civil disobedience and direct action, the group wants to stop new fossil fuels from being licenced and made.
Snooker community shocked by the strange World Snooker Championship event
The strange World Snooker Championship event shocked the snooker world, and fans and players alike hoped that things would get back to normal and the tournament would go on without any problems.
What an extraordinary picture this is from Getty Images, one of the most dramatic to ever emerge from the World Championship at the Crucible.#Snooker pic.twitter.com/AsiBLEhJKg
— Nick Metcalfe (@Nick_Metcalfe) April 17, 2023
Stephen Hendry 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.”
The Just Stop Oil Group has been involved in similar protests in the past, including one in 2019 where they stuck themselves to the London Stock Exchange. The group has said that the UK government is wrong to back fossil fuels because they hurt the environment.
Security concerns raised after protest disrupts World Snooker Championship
Even though the protesters made trouble, the World Snooker Championship went on, and the players went back to playing. But the incident has made people worry about the event’s security and the safety of both the players and the people who came to watch. Many people want stricter security steps to be put in place so that things like this don’t happen again.
The World Snooker Championship is one of the most important sports events, and people come from all over the world to watch it. The incident ruined a party that was supposed to honour the sport and its best players. The snooker community hopes that the incident won’t ruin the rest of the tournament and that the players will be able to focus on their matches without any more problems.
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