The World Snooker Championships were famously disrupted by Just Stop Oil protestors last night. One protestor jumped onto a table and covered himself in orange powder paint. Another protestor tried to glue herself to a table.
Inside the Crucible, there were chaotic scenes as the usually-serene snooker environs were mightily disrupted. Online, there was absolute bedlam.
Harnessing the can-do spirit of Rob Walker and his hoover, mememakers worked diligently in the aftermath of the incident to place the protest in a comedic context.
Not a good hoover, Bill.
A great hoover. pic.twitter.com/uB2SujgPXR— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) April 17, 2023
The best Snooker Protestor memes
Below you'll find some of our favourite memes from the protests. By far the greatest one juxtaposes Cinnamon Man of online fame with the aftermath of the scene. There was also an inevitable Armagh meme, plenty of heatmap chat, some Wotsits wonderings as well as a poignant photoshop of Materazzi and Rui Costa admiring the protestors handiwork.
— 💖💞 soapy 💞💖 (@soapyhnnh) April 17, 2023
Armagh fan invades the Snooker Championship. No plan B pic.twitter.com/qvllXshzGz
— Damian McCullough (@d_mc_cullough) April 18, 2023
— Jonny Sharples (@JonnyGabriel) April 17, 2023
Good to see they have implemented heat maps in this years world snooker championship pic.twitter.com/XhUsgl2Om9
— Howard Hamlin (@H0wardHamlin) April 17, 2023
via Reddit Snooker
Fallout to the protests
The protests caused severe disruption to last night's play. The images were instantly iconic and have provoked a lot of conversation online. Coming on the back on the weekend's protests at Aintree over the safety of horseracing, sport again finds itself as a fulcrum in larger societal debates.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live today, Barry Hearn said he wasn't surprised to see sport being targeted by protestors.
"Sport is such an easy target.
"Something that is so accessible like the Crucible. So small, so private - you can reach out and almost shake hands with the players.
"In my mind, it didn't do their cause anything but harm. They're not making a point at all. They're just disruptive and when protest is so disruptive that it stops people getting value for money and having bought tickets, they are robbed of that opportunity. It is a form of theft."
"Snooker is a soft target and I would hate it, but I see it as an inevitability for the relationship between fans and sport to change.
"One of the lovely things about the Crucible is they say the crowd on the front row can literally reach out and touch the players or the table in play but yesterday we saw it enacted in real life."
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