King's ranking meant that he would need to win a match to qualify for the ranking tournaments in the 2011–12 season. He failed to qualify for four of the eight ranking tournaments during the season and was knocked out in the first round in two.&lt;ref name="2011/12"&gt;&lt;/ref&gt; However, he produced an excellent run in the Shanghai Masters where he reached his first semi-final since the 2005 Welsh Open. He required a final frame decider to beat Liu Song in qualifying 5–4 and once in China he won by the same scoreline to knock out defending champion Ali Carter in the first round. Further wins followed over Fergal O'Brien and Anthony Hamilton, before he was whitewashed 0–6 by Mark Selby in the last four. King also reached the quarter-finals of the World Open by beating Mark Williams 5–1 and Tom Ford 5–4, but then lost 1–5 to Mark Allen. King lost to seventeen-year-old Luca Brecel in qualifying for the World Championship and finished the season ranked world number 31, dropping five places during the year.