Hughes was accepted as a member by the
World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) in 1981. His first professional tournament was the
1981 International Open, where he defeated
Jackie Rea 5–4 in the first qualifying round before being eliminated 1–5 by
Bert Demarco. In the last tournament of his debut season, the
1982 World Snooker Championship, he recorded a 9–4 win over
Clive Everton before losing in the second qualifying round (last 48) 4–9 to
Tony Meo. and in 1990 was due to lose his professional status after being defeated 1–10 by
Alan McManus in a play-off match, one of a series of matches where the lowest-ranked professionals faced leading amateurs with a place on the professional tour at stake. However, the WPBSA soon opened membership for events to anyone over the age of 16 that paid the relevant fee, and Hughes continued to play in professional tournaments until 1994, finishing the
1993–94 snooker season
ranked 489, and dropping to 525 in the following year's list, having not competed for a year. His highest ranking achieved as a professional was 88, in the
snooker world rankings 1985/1986. ==References==