Gritty Wild falls at the final hurdle

SNOOKER: MICHAEL Wild reached the final of the first English Ranking Series event of the season at Walsall.

The Moorside potting ace fought his way through four rounds at the Midland Snooker Academy to face Eden Sharav in the final, who won 5-3 in the best-of-nine clash.

Wild displayed plenty of guts in earlier rounds. After opening with a 4-2 win over John Wilson, he found himself trailing 3-0 against Chris Keogan but battled back to 4-3.

That set-up a quarter-final tie with Saqib Nafir, which he won 4-1.

David Lilley stood between Wild and a place in the final and, after falling 3-2 behind, he looked to be heading out of the competition. But he again hung in to book his place in the final.

The second English Ranking Series tournament is in Gloucester next month.