The World Snooker Championship final between Shaun Murphy and Wu Yize at the Crucible Theatre had to be stopped on Sunday afternoon due to a protester
A protester halted the World Snooker Championship final match between Wu Yize and Shaun Murphy(Image: (George Wood/Getty Images))
The World Snooker Championship final had to be halted after a protester attempted to make her way to the table. A female protester shouting ‘nobody pay their TV licences’, jumped on to the arena floor before being apprehended by referee Rob Spencer as both Wu Yize and Shaun Murphy watched on.
The time of stoppage came during the third frame, with Wu leading 2-0 at the time. And although Wu was forced to step back while first Spencer and then security staff dealt with the protester, it wasn’t long before he was back playing.
One member of the crowd could be heard saying, “Well done, ref!” while those in attendance applauded the efforts of Spencer and the security staff. On BBC commentary of the match, John Parrott said: “Yeah, sorry for that minor disturbance. It is all sorted.”
The ‘minor disturbance’ comes just 24 hours on from another member of the crowd being ejected from the venue for shouting ‘never forget the Epstein Files’ before the deciding frame between Wu and Mark Allen. Their semi-final was similarly halted and referee Marcel Eckardt addressed the crowd and proclaimed: “Can you get this person out please, now please.”
Once they were removed, TNT commentator Philip Studd said: “That’s person seen the last of snooker for quite a while, I think.” Wu booked his place in today’s final, having played out a Crucible classic against Allen on Saturday night.
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Allen missed a simple black to book his place in his first World Snooker Championship final before falling 17-16 to Wu in one of the most dramatic last-four finishes in Crucible history. The 40-year-old Antrim man had the match at his mercy when he got on top of an error-strewn 32nd frame and required just the black off its spot to wrap up a 17-15 win.
Speaking after his defeat, Allen said: “You don’t deserve to be in a world final if you’re missing balls like that. It was just pure pressure, to be honest.
“Even though I’m devastated to lose that match I think the right person’s in the final. The way he plays is great for the game, he scores heavily and pots some ridiculous long balls. He’s going to win many world titles.”
While Murphy booked his place in today’s final after twice overturning a two-frame deficit in the final session to beat John Higgins 17-15. Murphy was forced to dredge up his best form to see off the 50-year-old Scot in a titanic tussle that looked nailed-on for a decider until Higgins fluffed a black on a break of 50.
Higgins’ miss gave Murphy a chance, and despite a rare miss with the rest, he seized on a second chance to clear the black and give himself a shot at a first title since his solitary win in 2005. And he said: “I just came out today knowing if I got my chances I could score.
“At the interval I was just saying to myself, ‘you’ve done it before, now you can do it again’. But John Higgins – what a player and what a man.
“The harder it gets out there, the tougher he gets and the better he plays. If I’m half the player when I’m in my 50s, I’ll be very proud.”
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