Ricky Walden is an English professional snooker player from Chester. In the year 2000, he turned professional. He won his first ranking title by beating Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-8 in the final in the 2008 Shanghai Masters. Next, he won the 2012 Wuxi Classic and the 2014 International Championship and has been inside the top 16 in the season-ending rankings on four occasions. A former world Top 6 player, Walden has reached the televised stages of the World Snooker Championship on eight occasions as of 2021, with his best result being a semi-finalist in 2013. His highest ranking was #6 in March 2015 whereas his current ranking is #18 as of 31st January 2022.
Walden Comeback Stuns Mark Williams To Book Semi-Final Spot
Ricky Walden booked his place to his second successive ranking event semi-final after a stunning comeback against Mark Williams in the quarter-final of the Players Championship. Trailing 4-1 and 5-2, Walden battled back to take the match to a decider in which he eventually emerged victoriously. He now faces the winner of Yan Bingtao and Barry Hawkins. The first frame was a little scrappy as the Welsh former world number one scrapped to a 69-17 win, but he hit a 103 in the next frame to go two up. Walden hit an impressive 60 on his way to reducing the deficit to a single frame, but back-to-back centuries took Williams to a 4-1 lead.
What is Ricky Walden Known For?
- Being a professional snooker player.
- For winning his first ranking title in the 2008 Shanghai Masters.
Source: @commons.wikimedia.org
Where is Ricky Walden From?
Ricky Walden was born on 11th November 1982 in Chester, England but he was raised in Bagillt, North Wales, where he now lives once more, having spent some time living elsewhere in Flintshire. He held British nationality and his ethnicity is British-White. His race is White. He celebrated his 39th birthday as of 2021. Scorpio is his zodiac sign as per his birthplace and his religion is Christianity. He was one of the Young Players of Distinction in a scheme run in 2000, designed to help young players develop their playing and media skills, alongside Shaun Murphy, Stephen Maguire, and Ali Carter. In 2001 he won the World Under-21 Championship. There are no details about his education and family details.
Ricky Walden Career Timeline
- Ricky Walden’s professional career began in 1999 playing UK Tour (renamed the Challenge Tour in 2000).
- He played Challenge Tour in 2001 and entered Main Tour.
- His 2004/2005 season began with the ranking number 78 in the world.
- He beat John Higgins twice that season, at the Grand Prix and UK Championship, and reached the Quarter-Final of the China Open. In 2005-2006, his best run was to the last 16 in the China Open, which he achieved by beating Stephen Maguire.
- In his 2006-2007 season, he had 2 last-32 appearances including the UK Championship, where he lost to Ronnie O’Sullivan 8-9.
- Again, he lost to eventual finalist Mark Selby in qualifying for the World Championship.
- He reached #36 for the 2007-2008 season. Next, he reached the last 16 of the Grand Prix, beating John Parrott. He crashed out in the China Open to Mark Selby and in the qualifying for the World Championship, to Mark Allen.
- In the 2008 Shanghai Masters, he defeated Lee Spick and Ian McCulloch to qualify. He defeated wildcard Zhang Anda, Stephen Hendry, Neil Robertson (5-4, from 1-4 down), Steve Davis in the quarter-finals (5-2, from 0-2 down), and Mark Selby in the semi-final (6-4, from 1-4 down).
- He grabbed his first ranking title by beating Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-8 in the final.
- He won the Six-red Snooker International, beating Stuart Bingham 8-3 in the final in 2008.
- Then, he started the 2011-12 season slowly, by losing in qualifying for the first two ranking events of the year. He qualified for the UK Championship by defeating Jamie Jones 6-2.
- He played in all 12 of the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship series of events throughout the season, reaching the final in Event 6, where he lost to Neil Robertson 1-4.
- He began the 2012-2013 season by winning his second-ranking event title at the Wuxi Classic.
- He lost in the first round of the Australian Goldfields Open 4-5 to Jamie Cope and in the second round of the Shanghai Masters 2-5 to Mark Williams.
- At the UK Championship, he played 17-year-old world number 74 Luca Brecel in the first round and despite leading 2-0, 4-2, and 5-4 in the best-of-11 frame match, Walden was eventually beaten 5-6.
- Now a part of the elite top 16, he played in the Masters for the second time but lost to Shaun Murphy.
- He recorded his first-ever victory at the World Championship by thrashing Michael Holt 10-1 in the opening round.
- He finished the season at a career-high world number eight in the rankings.
- He began using a new cue at the start of the 2013-14 season.
- He won the minor-ranking Bluebell Wood Open, defeating Marco Fu 4-3 in the final.
- He defeated Mark Williams 6-5 in the last 32, Ding Junhui 6-4 in the last 16, and Mark Allen 6-2 in the quarter-finals to reach his second UK semi-final in three years in the UK Championship but he went on to lose the match 9-5.
- After that, he beat Pankaj Advani, Xiao Guodong, and Shaun Murphy in reaching the quarter-finals of the China Open, but then lost 5-3 to Ali Carter.
- He reached the final of the Six-red World Championship but lost 8-7 against Stephen Maguire in September 2014.
- He won through to the final of the International Championship without facing a top 16 player in November of the same year.
- He lost in the fourth round of the UK Championship 6-0 to Stuart Bingham and Ronnie O’Sullivan knocked him out of the Masters.
- He lost five frames in a row against Luca Brecel in the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open to be defeated 5-3.
- In his 2015-2016 season, at the PTC Finals, he beat Tom Ford 4-1, Marco Fu 4-2, and Ali Carter 4-1 to make the semi-finals but then lost three frames to lose 10-6 to Mark Allen.
- Next, he overcame Stuart Bingham 5-1 to play in the semi-finals of the China Open.
- He suffered a bulging disc in his back in December 2016.
- His only quarter-final of the 2016-17 season was at the English Open and he lost it 5-2 to Barry Hawkins. He lost 6-5 in the third round of the UK Championship, having led Mark Williams 5-3.
- In his 2017-2018 season, in the UK Championship, he reached the last 16 after knocking out Duane Jones, Jamie Jones, and Kyren Wilson before being dispatched by the eventual finalist Shaun Murphy.
- In his 2018-2019 season, he reached the quarter-final of the Riga Masters but lost to the eventual champion Neil Robertson 4-2.
- He suffered a shock first-round exit in the UK Championship after losing 6-5 to Jak Jones in December 2018. Sadly, he failed to qualify for the World Snooker Championship after losing 10-9 to Eden Sharav in the qualifying round, despite leading 9-6.
- He reached the quarter-final after winning against players like Michael Holt and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh before being dispatched by David Gilbert in the decider in the English Open in the 2019-2020 season.
- He was knocked out in the second round by Martin O’Donnell, losing 6-2 at the UK Championship.
- He reached the last 16 after knocking out Rod Lawler, Ashely Carty, and Mark Williams before losing to Judd Trump at the UK Championship in his 2020-2021 season.
- In April 2021, he 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.
Source: @wst.tv
Who is Ricky Walden married to?
Ricky Walden is a married man. He tied the knot to his beautiful wife Natalie Wilton. Their wedding was held at New York City Hall on Thursday 22 May 2014. They have been together since 2010. The duo is also blessed with a child, a son in September 2015, causing Walden to withdraw from the Shanghai Masters. Today, the happily married couple is enjoying their present life happily without any disturbances. His sexual orientation is straight.
What is Ricky Walden Net Worth?
Ricky Walden is a professional snooker player whose net worth is estimated to have between in the range of $1 Million-$5 Million as of 2022. His main source of wealth is from his snooker career. Further, he also made a cool amount of money from winning various tournaments. He is living a cool lifestyle from his earnings. Whereas his exact salary and career earnings are still to get unfold yet but there is no doubt in the mind of his followers that he is making a cool amount of money from his career work.
How tall is Ricky Walden?
Ricky Walden is a handsome man with a slim body type. He stands tall at the perfect height of 6 feet or 183 cm. His other body measurements such as weight, chest size, bicep size, and more are still to get disclosed yet. Today, he is leading a healthy life. He has a charming smile with a glowing face. His eye color and hair color, both are light brown.
Source: Gossip G
