Romford potter bows out in Berlin

Mark King was unable to follow up his electric comeback victory over Ronnie O’Sullivan as he slipped out of the F66.com German Masters at the hands of Tom Ford.

The Romford cueman had been riding on the crest of a wave, but found Ford a step too far losing 5-2 in Berlin’s Tempodrom, missing out on a quarter-final berth.

That was despite King twice leading in the early stages, locked at 2-2 at the interval before an imperfect positional shot from blue to pink cost him the fifth frame on the very last ball.

And from there Ford stole the march, taking four frames in succession to leave the Coral Northern Ireland Open champion suffering a fifth successive second-round exit.

But with minute details preventing him from breaking the run, King insisted he could not be too despondent to lose to a man who had made a maximum 147 break in the previous round.

“I didn’t play brilliantly, but missed one or two balls or played the odd bad positional shot and it was those small things that cost me,” said the world number 21.

“I was up in a couple of frames and made a poor shot which saw him take the frame – those were the only things that were different from the previous round.

“At 2-1 up I had a bit of misfortune with a red, but I played solidly enough so it’s a shame to lose. Tom’s safety was very good but it was straightforward, bread and butter shots that made me miss out.”

A first-frame break of 96 suggested form would be a continuation for King, though the world number 37 immediately responded with 73 of his own.

And with both players in good nick, it seemed as if Berlin was set for a thriller in just the third meeting between the pair.

But with his few errors ruthlessly punished, King slipped out in disappointing fashion as breaks of 62 and 66 set up a tie with another Essex cueman in Ali Carter.

“When you beat people like Ronnie, you expect to go on and do better so I am disappointed, but Tom played well and potted some excellent balls,” added King.

“On the whole it was nothing major, but against top players you can’t afford to that and that’s reflective of the scoreline.

“I’ve had a good few months and I’ve got the Grand Prix to focus on now so I’ll get myself onto the practice table to put myself in the best shape possible.”

*Watch the German Masters LIVE and Exclusive on Eurosport 1, featuring daily studio analysis from Ronnie O’Sullivan, Jimmy White and Neal Foulds.