Top 10 moments of 2022/23 snooker season: No. 2 – Referee Olivier Marteel halts protester amid World Championship chaos

No. 2 – Break the night with colour in Crucible chaos

Olivier Marteel has become used to picking up snooker balls during a storied 17-year career as an elite referee on the main professional circuit, but you can never be sure what the next frame will bring.

“It’s my calling, I’m a nurse. I’m there to help people,” Marteel told Eurosport.

Just like confronting the pandemic, Marteel did not retreat in the face of further prospective danger when a woman attempted to superglue herself to table two during the tussle between Mark Allen and Fan Zhengi in the first round.

Despite the security breach, Marteel’s quick reactions halted the protestor as an unsuspecting Allen lined up a shot leading 6-3 in the first frame of their concluding session, preventing the certain curtailment of the evening’s play in Sheffield.

“Hats off to World Snooker Tour for getting the tournament back on schedule, but the right thing to do is to reward or honour Olivier’s bravery.”

Table one’s match – involving ‘The Gentleman’ Joe Perry and ‘The Milkman’ Robert Milkins – was not so fortunate in escaping unscathed as a bloke managed to catapult himself onto the baize at breakneck speed, scattering orange powder paint across the surface area amid howls of derision from the crowd.

“It’s an unprecedented incident,” said Eurosport commentator David Hendon. “We’ve been coming to the Crucible since 1977, we’ve never seen anything like this before.”

“I heard a bang, that I thought it was on the other table. Then I turned round and there was a woman on my table,” said Allen.

“It could have been a lot worse. You saw what happened on the other table, and how much disruption it caused.”

Milkins somehow recovered a 7-2 deficit to complete a 10-9 win, but their four-day encounter will always be remembered for the chaotic scenes of breaking the night with colour amid the traditional Crucible break-building.

“I was a little bit shaken up. It wasn’t a very nice experience,” said Perry. “But it didn’t have any impact on the match.”

The World Championship is a tournament he clearly cherishes as much as his role as a referee.

“There are billions of people in the world and you are one of those chosen to ref at the Crucible, at the Mecca of the sport of snooker,” he said.

“It can’t get any better than that.”

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