TNT Sports
World Snooker Championship 2023: Mark Allen beats Fan Zhengyi after protest, Robert Milkins v Joe Perry rescheduled
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Published 18/04/2023 at 00:08 GMT+1
A protest by Just Stop Oil activists at the World Snooker Championship on Monday evening caused play to be stopped. Robert Milkins and Joe Perry’s match was forced to be suspended and will begin on Tuesday night, as the table was not in a playing state, but this season's best player Mark Allen was able to beat Fan Zhengyi 10-5 to book a place in the last 16 at the Crucible.
Shocking scenes as 'Just Stop Oil' protestor covers table with orange powder
Video credit: TNT Sports
Mark Allen beat Fan Zhengyi 10-5 in a match that was headlined by a protest by Just Stop Oil invaders at the World Championship.
Allen led 6-3 going into the second session, but play was halted on both tables at the Crucible when an activists broke onto the baize during both matches at 19:20 BST.
In the Robert Milkins v Joe Perry match, a man stood on the table and threw orange powder over it, so play was not able to resume.
That match will now begin at 19:00 BST on Tuesday, before a rescheduled second session at 09:30 BST on Thursday morning, when no play was initially due to be held.
A woman got one leg on the table in the Allen and Fan match, but was , along with other World Snooker Tour staff.
When Allen and Fan returned to the arena just before 20:00, they were given a standing ovation.
Allen was also given hearty applause when he crunched the first ball in following the restart, with the Northern Irishman quipping “I don’t know what all the fuss was about” before going on to make a century to go 7-3 ahead.
The next three frames were very scrappy, with Fan taking the first two - which took 88 minutes in total - to put the pressure on his opponent.
Frame 13 came down to the final pink and black. Fan needed both balls and missed a great opportunity with the pink over the bottom right corner. Allen stepped in and stopped the momentum of the Chinese player to take an 8-5 lead into the interval.
Following the break, Allen hammered in a long red and made a terrific 101 to go within one of victory.
Fan looked to respond in the next frame but missed a medium-distance red on 31. Allen made a break of 64 but went in-off on the final red.
But, with just 27 left on the table and Fan 29 behind, the Chinese player needed a snooker. He could not so Allen secured a place in round two.
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