Play resumed on both tables at the World Snooker Championship on Tuesday morning after a protest by Just Stop Oil activists last night.
A man climbed onto the table during the match between Robert Milkins and Joe Perry, covering it in orange powder, leading to that game being suspended.
Another female protestor was held back by referee Olivier Marteel as she approached the table in Mark Allen’s match against Fan Zhengyi.
The two protestors were arrested after their actions at The Crucible while the damaged table was recovered overnight with play resuming at 10am as planned.
Allen reacted angrily to the interruption, branding the protestors “complete idiots” following the end of his match which restarted after a break in play.
“I feel that even speaking about it, we probably shouldn’t be giving them any air time,” he said. “Completely crazy. We were very fortunate that Olivier was on the ball for this one otherwise we would have faced the same consequences.
“I don’t really see any point or purpose in what they are trying to do. There are probably better ways of trying to get their point across.”
The incident marked the biggest breach in the tournament’s history, 15 years after a streaker broke into the arena for the final between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ali Carter.
Former World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn was also critical of the protest, calling on tougher sanctions for such actions.
He told the BBC: “You’re much more likely to lose support than gain support because you’re not putting a message across, you’re just showing what you are – a disruptive anarchist.
“It actually brings you down to that level where people find you a complete and utter pain, you’ve ruined a kids’ night out that he’s been waiting for for years or whatever, and you don’t give a monkey.
“So, what does the Government do, what do the authorities do? Is it slap your wrists, don’t do it again, a little fine, maybe a bit of community service? It’s not enough. We are too tolerant of this type of behaviour in the name of democracy when, in fact, it’s anarchy.”
