Fitness regime paying off for Wild

Snooker player Michael Wild off to compete in Chaina.

Snooker: 

FITTER and healthier than ever and enjoying the form of his life, Michael Wild goes into the most lucrative tournament of his snooker career with everything in his favour.

The Moorside potting machine flies to China on Friday for the final stages of the £657,000 International Championship, believing he can make an impact against the world’s best players.

That belief has been fuelled by his emphatic 6-0 victory over Judd Trump in the qualifiers for this tournament at the Metrodome, Barnsley, which hoisted Wild from 120th in the world to 98th.

Apart from the confidence gained from the victory, Wild has assumed Trump’s favourable draw in the last 64 of the event in Daqling, which carries a first prize of £125,000.

Wild, who earned his ticket on the professional tour by winning last year’s European Open in Prague, puts his recent improvement mostly down to the influence of girlfriend Emma.

He said: “She has helped me a lot because she is into fitness and has encouraged me to go out running three nights a week and work on the treadmill. It has helped me immensely because I feel so much fresher. I have also cut out takeaway meals, eat more healthily and put in hours at the practice table at home.”

Wild won’t have long to shake off jetlag as he takes on Sanderson Lam in the last 64 on Sunday.

“He is a good player, beating Ireland’s David Morris in the qualifiers, but having beaten Judd, I don’t doubt myself any more.”

At 34, Wild isn’t young in snooker terms, but neither is he too old to make an impact: “I don’t think 34 is old for a snooker player. Stuart Bingham won the world title at 40. I feel fit and fresh and consistently playing the best I’ve ever played.

“If I can start okay I could do very well, as I tend to get better as I go along.”