Judd Trump, but went on to lose 10–4. His poor run of form earlier in the season coincided with Walden becoming a father for the first time in September 2015. He also explained that he had been making technical changes with his game and since ditching them and reverting to how he naturally plays the game his play had dramatically improved. Walden battled through a scrappy match in the opening round of the World Championship in defeating Robbie Williams 10–8 and then lost 13–8 to Higgins. Despite his recent good form Walden stated that he would have to improve in all departments of his game if he wanted to become a world champion in the future. 2016/2017 season Walden suffered a bulging disc in his back in December 2016. He was concerned about maintaining his ranking, and began entering more tournaments than in previous seasons. The injury prevented him from putting in the practise hours to maintain form, and he stopped getting results. He soon dropped out of the top 16, where he'd been a fixture since 2013. Walden's only quarter-final of the 2016–17 season was at the English Open and he lost it 5–2 to Barry Hawkins. He did almost get to the same stage of the International Championship, but was edged out 6–5 by Ding Junhui in the last 16. Walden also lost 6–5 in the third round of the UK Championship, having led Mark Williams 5–3. After failing to get beyond the last 16 of any event after this, Walden dropped out of the top 16 and needed to win three matches to qualify for the World Championship. He could not win one as Hammad Miah - having recovered from a 0–5 deficit - defeated him 10–7. 2017/2018 season In the UK Championship, Walden reached the last 16 after knocking out Duane Jones, Jamie Jones, and Kyren Wilson before dispatched by the eventual finalist Shaun Murphy. In the next tournament, he reached the quarter final of the Scottish Open before losing to Cao Yupeng. He qualified for the World Snooker Championship after beating Joe Swail, Lee Walker, and Andrew Higginson in the qualifying rounds. He advanced to the second round of the tournament for the fourth time with a 10–6 victory over Luca Brecel, but eventually lost to Judd Trump by 13–9. 2018/2019 season Early in the season, with wins over the likes of Jimmy White, Li