Ricky Walden claims he is 'embarrassed' by his current form and is even considering taking a break from snooker.

The Chester cueman is in despondent mood after crashing out of the UK Snooker Championship in York at the second-round stage on Saturday evening.

He failed to make a single half-century break as he lost 6-5 to world No55 Li Hang of China at the Barbican Centre.

Despite his sub-par performance, world No12 Walden still took the match to a deciding frame but was unable to get over the line as Li booked a last-32 clash with Scotland’s Jamie Burnett.

The 33-year-old has won three ranking events during his career and is a permanent fixture in the world’s top 16 but, other than making the Haining Open final last month, he hasn’t gone beyond the third round of an event this term.

He insists there are no redeeming features to the way he is currently playing the game.

“I’m embarrassed, just embarrassed to play snooker at the moment – it’s just a real bad time,” said Walden.

“I’m playing some real bad stuff and it’s just embarrassing, I’m not enjoying what I’m doing and it’s hard.

“I’ve not really been playing an awful lot but I’m not sure what I’m doing at the moment, it’s the worst it’s been in my career. The way I’m hitting the ball at the moment is really bad.

“I’m just losing to real average players, I’m an average player myself at the moment, that’s all it is.”

Walden needs to make 'serious changes'

Walden is due to compete at the Gibraltar Open next but says he might take a short break from the sport to clear his head.

And while he can’t immediately see a fix to his problems, he admits he needs some serious alterations in order to get back to the sort of tournament-winning snooker he has proven he’s capable of playing.

"I need to make some serious changes if I want to compete at the top level because it’s really, really embarrassing,” added Walden. “I think I might have a little bit of time away.

“I don’t know what’s first in terms of what I’ll do next but I’m just going to get out of York, get out of this place.”

Snooker - Betway UK Championship - York Barbican - 28/11/15
Ricky Walden and Li Hang during their second round match
Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Craig Brough
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Ricky Walden lines up a shot in his loss to Li Hang at the UK Championship

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