A "Just Stop Oil" protester interrupted Monday's Snooker World Championship event by pouring orange dye on the billiards table and causing the match to be called off.
The wild scene unfolded at the Crucible Theatre in England ... Robert Milkins and Joe Perry were squaring off in the first round when two protesters disrupted the proceedings.
FYI, Snooker is a cue sport resembling pool played on a 6-pocket rectangular billiards table covered with a green felt-like cloth called baize.
A 30-year-old male protester wearing a "Just Stop Oil" shirt emerged from out of nowhere ... leaped onto the billiards table, and poured an orange substance all over the table.
Simultaneously, a 52-year-old woman, also a JTO protester, tried disrupting another match between Mark Allen and Fan Zhengyi, but officials quickly intervened.
🎱 NEW OIL AND GAS WILL SNOOKER US
— Just Stop Oil (@JustStop_Oil) April 17, 2023
🦺 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
The "Just Stop Oil" group took accountability for the incident, confirming two supporters were responsible for disrupting the tourney, and were ultimately arrested for the stunt.
"They are demanding that the Government immediately stop all new UK fossil fuel projects and are calling on UK sporting institutions to step into in civil resistance against the Government’s genocidal policies," the group said in a tweet.
Disgruntled fans booed the protesters ... and the Milkins-Perry match had to be postponed because the table needed to be reclothed overnight.