Mark King (snooker)
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| Mark King | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 28, 1974 |
| Nationality |  English |
| Nickname(s) | The Romford Battler |
| Professional | 1991– |
| Highest ranking | 11 |
| 2008/09 ranking | #15 |
| Highest break | 146 (2006 UK Championship) |
Mark King (born 28 March 1974) is a professional snooker player. Hehas never quite reached the top echelons of snooker. He has never won a ranking tournament, his closest attempt being runner-up in the 1997 Regal Welsh Open [1]and the 2004 Irish Masters [2]. He has spent five seasons in the top sixteen, and is one of only four players to have three separate spells at this level.
King advanced the rankings gradually after turning professional, taking five seasons to reach the top 48, at a time when there were many more professionals than in the 2000s. His 1997 Welsh Open final run took him into the top 32, and a year later he reached the top 16 for the first time.
He stayed there the following season without reaching a ranking quarter-final, but dropped out a year later. He made an immediate return in 2000/2001, climbing to a career-high of #11 a year later. A poor 2002/2003 season then saw him drop out of the top 16, at which point he declared that he would "never set foot on a snooker table again", although he has since changed his mind and has not retired from the game.
After the 2004 World Championship, King became involved in a controversial rivalry between Quinten Hann and Andy Hicks after Hicks eliminated Hann in their first-round clash. Hann had been making offensive remarks and gestures throughout the match, but after Hicks took the victory the two players had an altercation in which Hann raised his fist to Hicks. King, a close friend of Hicks, challenged Hann to a boxing match [3], for which he (King) was later criticised, as Hann's behaviour had already put the game into enough hot water. Nevertheless, the boxing match went ahead, with Hann winning on points.
In December 2004 he reached the semi-finals of the UK Championship, losing 9-4 to eventual winner Stephen Maguire. At 8-3 a mobile phone went off in the crowd, prompting King to quip "if that's my missus, tell her I'll be home soon". He put up a fight against Ronnie O'Sullivan in the 2005 event. Defeat to Neil Robertson (he was trailing 7-2 but only lost 10-9) in qualifying for the World Championship in 2005 cost him the chance of a top 16 return. King qualified for the 2006 World Championship, resiliently losing 10-6 against Stephen Maguire in the first round, but lost to David Gilbert in qualifying in 2007.
In the 2008 World Snooker Championship he beat six-time runner-up Jimmy White to qualify [4], then defeated the previous year's runner-up, Mark Selby, 10-8. He shouted out "Get in!" on potting the match ball [5]. He lost to Peter Ebdon in the last 16 [6], but his top-16 place was secure.
He has reached the last 16 of the World Snooker Championship five times, in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2008, but never progressed beyond this stage. These are the five season which he ended inside the top 16 of the rankings.
[edit] Personal
He is married with two children. His mother was jailed for life in 2004 for murdering her cousin.[1]
[edit] External links
- Player profile and contact detail on 110sport.com
- Profile on World Snooker
- Profile on globalsnooker.co.uk
[edit] References
- ^ "King breezes past Doherty", BBC, 27 March 2004. URL accessed on 13 November 2006.
