World Snooker Championship 2023: Mark Allen beats Fan Zhengyi after protest, Robert Milkins v Joe Perry rescheduled

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.

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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