Mark King suffered a first-round loss at the Shanghai Masters earlier this week but has already moved on and insists he is excited for next week’s event in Belfast. The Englishman fell to a 5-2 defeat at the hands of Wales’ Jamie Jones, who now boasts a 5-1 head-to-head record against King, in China on Monday.
However, King is refusing to allow the early exit to play on his mind and has already switched his focus to the Northern Ireland Open at the Belfast Waterfront. The world number 21 claimed his first ever ranking title at the tournament last season by edging out Barry Hawkins, who is priced at 22/1 to win the UK Championship 2017, 9-8 and he is eyeing a successful defence next week. King admits it will be a strange feeling to step out to the table as the champion although he insists he will relish every moment after a frustrating time in Shanghai.
“Going back to Belfast is going to be great and it will bring back all the memories of last year and the trophy. It is going to be weird coming into the event as reigning champion and something that I never thought I would do,” King said. “I’m just excited. There are so many tournaments nowadays, every event you want to go there and win, so I’m excited to go over there and give it a go. “Now I just want more of it. More moments like that. It is just a case of getting my head down, working hard and seeing what happens. I don’t want to be one of those players who just won one title and that was it. I just want to keep striving to do better.”
Snooker odds available at Dafabet.