UK Snooker Championship 2017: Ricky Walden happy to be playing without pain

Ricky Walden has dropped to world number 23 following injury

Ricky Walden says he is finally playing without pain after a year of struggling to practice because of back problems.

The 35-year-old Englishman reached the second round of the UK Championship courtesy of a 6-1 victory over Duane Jones on Wednesday.

The three-time ranking event winner reached as high as world number six in March 2015 but has dropped to 23 in the rankings after a "horrible" 12 months.

"I've been on the floor for a long time really," Walden told BBC Sport.

"It's very difficult to get anything going. You are unhappy at home because you can't go and practice and earn money and you can see yourself sliding down the rankings very fast."

Walden, who lives in Chester, made encouraging progress at the Northern Ireland Open, beating Hammad Miah, Jack Lisowski and Jimmy Robertson before a fourth-round defeat by Robert Milkins.

It was his best performance since he reached the quarter-finals of the English Open in October 2016.

"I was playing in tournaments and not really competing," Walden added.

"I was playing almost to hang on to my ranking when I would have been better off taking time out. Mentally it is hard but I feel like I am through that now."

Walden has had physio and injections to help with the back problems and is happy to be competing again.

"I still think there is a lot of work to be done," he said. "There are certain shots that don't feel great but if I go back a month then I have improved so much.

"Since I have had the injections I have been competing every game, even though I have not been playing great.

"It is about looking forward and I feel a good run this week could give me even more confidence."