There were chaotic scenes at the Snooker World Championship in Sheffield on Monday evening after protestors disrupted two matches, one of which was being played by Antrim's Mark Allen.
Play at The Crucilbe Theatre was halted following the incident, which occurred during the first-round match between English players Robert Milkins and Joe Perry, while Antrim's Mark Allen was facing China's Fan Zhengyi on the venue's second table.
A man wearing a 'Just Stop Oil' t-shirt ran onto the Crucible floor during the first frame of the Milkins v Perry match, before clambering onto the table.
Members of the crowd jeered at the man as he kelt on the baize and began tossing handfuls of the powder into the air.
He was dragged off by security staff as a second female protester attempted to climb onto the table at which UK Champion Mark Allen was playing, before she was pulled away and also removed from the floor.
The pair were arrested and the Mark Allen/Fan Zhengyi match resumed shortly afterwards, but the game between Robert Milkins and Joe Perry was postponed until Tuesday.
A spokesperson for South Yorkshire Police said a 30-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and remained in police custody on Monday evening.
In a tweet following the incident, a spokesperson for the Just Stop Oil group said the protesting pair were "demanding that the government immediately stop all new UK fossil fuel projects".
They added in the tweet that "oil and gas will snooker us".
The protest group have previously caused disruption at art galleries in the UK, including members gluing themselves to a copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper painting at London's Royal Academy of Arts last year.
Monday's Crucible protest came days after the group held a 'go-slow' march in Cambridge to demand a halt to new UK fossil fuel projects.
