Shaun Murphy has empathised with the protesters at the Crucible on Monday night, saying the message behind the their actions should be heard.
Two activists for protest group Just Stop Oil interrupted the World Snooker Championship as they invaded the playing area, with one leaping on Table One and pouring orange powder over the baize.
The protestor on the other side of the dividing wall was stopped before she get onto the table and removed, with both people later arrested.
Mark Allen slammed the protesters as ‘complete idiots’ while Barry Hearn called for jail terms for them, but while Murphy was clearly not encouraging disruption at the Crucible, he feels they are making a point that should be listened to.
Asked whether there should be talk about the protest after the event, Murphy told BBC Radio 5 Live: ‘I think we probably should. I’m an expert on snooker, not an expert on climate change, but when I watch videos of people who are, they all say that we are hurtling towards problems. And some commentators would even suggest that we’ve gone past the point of no return.
‘As I say, I am not an expert on that, at all. But you only have to watch one of Sir David Attenborough’s shows and he tells us how much trouble we’re all in and what we need to do with the planet.
‘These people do know what they’re talking about and they tell us that we need to be doing more.
‘I’m thankful that no one was hurt, I’m thankful that it is just a game of snooker, no one was injured.
‘We’re to be reminded that we’re very, very lucky to live where we live and have the right to peaceful protest and we live to fight another day.
‘Again, I’m not an expert, but from my point of view, they deliver quite a stern message and I’m baffled that these things aren’t being taken more seriously by the powers that be around the world.
‘Why aren’t we doing more to stop using fossil fuels. I don’t know enough about it, but it always strikes me as weird that these groups have to resort to these sort of tactics.
‘Why aren’t governments around the world listening to experts on this field and doing what they can to make changes?’
Murphy admitted that if he had been playing in one of the matches, like Rob Milkins, Joe Perry, Mark Allen and Fan Zhengyi, or if he had been forced to re-cloth the table overnight, then he may have thought differently. But the Magician stuck to his opinion that the reason for the protest must be considered.
‘I’m not sure the table-fitters at the Crucible Theatre would have been so generous, and had I have been one of the players in the arena when somebody jumped over the sponsorship hoarding I might not have been so placid either, he said.
‘But I think you’ve got to look at what the message actually is.’
MORE : Protester jumps on table during World Snooker Championship match at the Crucible
MORE : Barry Hearn calls for the harshest punishments for Crucible protesters
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