Hang and Mark Allen, Walden reached the quarter final of the Riga Masters but lost to the eventual champion Neil Robertson 4–2. In December 2018, Walden suffered a shock first round exit in the UK Championship after losing 6–5 to Jak Jones. He failed to qualify for the World Snooker Championship after losing 10–9 to Eden Sharav in the qualifying round, despite leading 9–6. 2019/2020 season Walden's best result of the season came in the English Open, he reached the quarter final after winning against players like Michael Holt and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh before dispatched by David Gilbert in the decider. At the UK Championship, he was knocked out in the second round by Martin O'Donnell, losing 6–2. In July 2020, he was unable to qualify for the World Snooker Championship for the consecutive year after losing 10–5 to Matthew Stevens in the final qualifying round. 2020/2021 season At the UK Championship, Walden reached the last 16 after knocking out Rod Lawler, Ashely Carty, and Mark Williams before losing to Judd Trump. His best result of the season came in the Scottish Open, in which he advanced to the quarter final after beating the likes of Tom Ford and Mark Allen before losing to the eventual champion Mark Selby. In April 2021, Walden qualified for the World Snooker Championship for the first time in 3 years after beating Peter Lines and Ryan Day in the qualifying rounds. He drew Anthony McGill in the first round. Personal life Walden married Natalie Wilton in a short ceremony at New York City Hall on Thursday 22 May 2014. They have been together since 2010. Their son was born in September 2015, causing Walden to withdraw from the Shanghai Masters. They also have a second son. Performance and rankings timeline Career finals Ranking finals: 6 (3 titles) Minor-ranking finals: 3 (1 title) Non-ranking finals: 6 (2 titles) Pro-am finals: 8 (5 titles) Amateur finals: 1 (1 title) References External links Ricky Walden at worldsnooker.com Profile on the Global Snooker English snooker players Living people Sportspeople from Chester 1982 births Sportspeople from Flintshire World champions in snooker Competitors at the 2009 World Games