Marco Fu reached the last 16 of the Grand Prix as his impressive start to the new season continued at the Guild Hall. Fu, who has now won 11 matches from 13 starts during the 1999-2000 campaign, defeated world number 14 Mark King 5-3 as his attempt to emulate his run to the final 12 months ago gathered pace. Fu started brilliantly and quickly jumped to a 3-0 lead aided by a break of 58 and a superb 69 clearance to the black in the second frame. Then King, who reached the last 16 of the Regal China International in Shanghai last season, won two low-key frames to make it 3-2 and put the Hong Kong star under pressure. The fifth frame was destined to be decided on a re-spotted black but King missed it and Fu was left with a simple pot to lead 4-2. King managed to scramble the seventh frame but Fu raised his game and made a break of 104 to secure victory. Fu said: 'It was a good start but I lost my way in the middle of the match and was missing balls all over the place. 'I'm getting a little better with each match I play but I'm going to have to improve because it's going to get tougher.' Fu, who is up to 17th on the world ranking list, now faces John Parrott or Marcus Campbell in the fifth round.
