Snooker: King reigns at the Crucible

Mark King avenged his Regal Scottish Open defeat to David Gray earlier this month when he moved through to the second round of the Embassy World Championship in Sheffield today.

Gray had beaten King on his way to the final in Aberdeen, but this time the tables were turned as the 23-year-old from Surrey failed miserably to reproduce the form he had shown north of the border.

World number 13 King held a 6-3 lead overnight which was immediately cut by two frames this morning as Gray made a flying start, knocking in breaks of 68 and 58.

But that proved to be Gray’s only resistance as his Essex-based rival quickly regained total control without needing to hit the heights, a run of 79 in the final frame being King’s biggest single contribution.

‘‘To play not so well and still win 10-5 is a great feat for me,’’ said former Regal Welsh Open runner-up King, whose victory earned him a meeting with either Ken Doherty or Stuart Bingham on Friday.

‘‘David had played well against me in Aberdeen, although I missed a few chances, and I thought my best tactic here was to try and create some scrappy frames in which he would get bogged down.

‘‘I didn’t score too heavily, but my safety was good and I’ll have to play a million times better to go any further in the tournament.

‘‘If I play like that again I’ll be going home very early.’’

Gray was disgusted with his performance and could not put his finger on why he had played so badly after his great run in Scotland.

‘‘I played terribly from start to finish,’’ said Gray, who beat Ronnie O’Sullivan in the first round at The Crucible two years ago.

‘‘My mind wasn’t on the game - perhaps I’m still drained from Aberdeen. I missed so many pots, including four or five blacks off the spot.’’