| Venue: Crucible Theatre, Sheffield Dates: 15 April-1 May |
| Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV and Red Button with uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and the BBC Sport app |
Snooker’s World Championship resumed as normal from 10:00 BST on Tuesday after a protester covered a table with orange powder on Monday.
The protest caused the postponement of the match between Robert Milkins and Joe Perry, but the table was re-clothed overnight so play was able to restart on both tables as scheduled.
Another protester caused a delay in Mark Allen’s match with Fan Zhengyi by trying to glue herself to the table.
A man and a woman were later arrested.
The protesters wore T-shirts apparently in support of the group of climate change activists Just Stop Oil, which subsequently posted online to claim responsibility for the disruption to the event.
It came two days after animal rights activists delayed the start of the Grand National by getting on to the Aintree course.
Tuesday’s matches begin with Jack Lisowski against Noppon Saengkham, and Gary Wilson facing Elliot Slessor.
What happened?
Milkins and Perry were on table one at the Crucible when a man entered the playing area to gasps from the crowd, jumped and kneeled on the table before emptying a bag of orange powder.
At the same time, a woman attempted to glue herself to the other table, but was stopped by referee Olivier Marteel, only managing to grab hold of the middle pocket.
Marteel prevented the woman from accessing the table before security arrived and carried both protesters away.
Staff then began to clean up, with master of ceremonies Rob Walker hoovering the table in a bid to get the match back under way as quickly as possible.
While play resumed in the Allen v Fan match after a 40-minute break, the other table was covered and had to be re-clothed.
The match between Milkins and Perry will resume at 19:00 on Tuesday, with the second session from 09:30 on Thursday.
Yorkshire Police said they had arrested a 30-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman on suspicion of criminal damage over the incident, and they remained in custody on Tuesday morning.
Just Stop Oil has disrupted a number of sporting events, with some individuals attempting to tie themselves to goalposts during Premier League matches.
‘It could have been a lot worse’
After the conclusion of his 10-5 win over Fan, UK champion Allen told BBC Sport: “I think I was the last person in the whole arena to work out what was going on because I was focused on the shot I was about to play.
“I heard a bang, that I thought it was on the other table and then I turned round and there was a woman on my table.
“It could have been a lot worse – you saw what happened on the other table and how much disruption it caused.
“It was a surreal moment but I feel like even talking about it is giving them airtime they don’t deserve because they are just idiots. What are they trying to gain from what they have done? I am sure there are better ways to get their point across.”
Speaking on the BBC Red Button, at the time of the incident, seven-time world champion 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.”
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