David Rhys-JonesNorfolk's hopes of world singles glory rest on the shoulders of Tim Stone after 2006 champion Mervyn King crashed out of the competition at his first hurdle.David Rhys-Jones

Norfolk's hopes of world singles glory rest on the shoulders of Tim Stone after 2006 champion Mervyn King crashed out of the competition at his first hurdle.

In a second round match that showcased two of the sport's gentlemen, he lost 6-5 6-6 to Australian Steve Glasson.

The scoreline shows exactly how close the game was, but does not indicate the quality, which was sky-high, with no quarter asked or given, as both players drew consistently, and occasionally attacked accurately.

'We play the same sort of game,' said King, which is not all that surprising, because they are same sort of people - honest, grounded and reliable.

Looking back, King identified one incident on the penultimate end of the first set, when he accidentally gave the shot away, and another at the same stage of the second set, when he failed to draw the shot to an open jack.

'Those moments probably cost me the match, but, quite honestly there wasn't anything to choose between us, and the result could have gone either way,' said King. 'I'm disappointed to lose, but generally happy with the way I played.'

This was only the third time King and Glasson have met in a WBT event, their previous meeting, as long ago as 1997 and 1998, leaving them all square at one-game-all.

'I also beat Steve indoors at Tweed Heads in New South Wales, where he was supposed to be unbeatable several years ago,' recalled King.

The Norfolk baton now passes to Stone, but his next test could not be tougher - he plays five-times former champion Alex Marshall on Thursday afternoon.