Mark King has proved he’s made of tough old stuff again at the UK Championship.
Earlier this week, he missed the pink while on target for a 147 clearance and with it blew his chance of pocketing a £20,000 bonus.
But his response since coming agonisingly close to hitting his first ever professional maximum break has been absolutely first class.
First off, he cleared the disappointment immediately from his mind to complete a 6-4 win against Mike Dunn and he topped this in the next round knocking out the highly fancied Luca Brecel.
This puts him through to the last 16 of the UK Championship for the first time since 2009 – back when the event was held in Telford.
This ability to put a real low to one side so quickly and come back fighting is typical of the larger-than-life character King. Seeing him in action on the tour for more than two decades, it appears that he’s the kind of player who doesn’t indulge in moaning. Instead, he just gets on with the job in hand and remains philosophical win or lose. He’s too experienced to allow individual moments to taint his great spirit.
It’s probably no coincidence that King has looked even more at ease than usual over the past year. Realising a lifetime ambition of winning a ranking event has lifted a monkey from his back and put a real burning desire to bed. He’s been there, done it, lifted the trophy and no one can ever take that away from now. This must without doubt give you much greater freedom.
King also suggested after his second round win that he’s feeling much more comfortable with his game after some recent quite radical changes to his technique and his run here proves the work he’s putting in on the table is obviously paying off.
This is another reason why his progress and successes are so well deserved. Even after all these years travelling on the main circuit, he remains committed to putting in the practice to get his game right.
