[1] Hughes was accepted as a member by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) in 1981.
[2] 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.
[1] He lost to Mike Hallett 6–9 in qualifying for at the 1981 UK Championship[1] and 2–3 at the 1982 Bass and Golden Leisure Classic.
[3] 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.
[5] 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,[1][6] finishing the 1993–94 snooker season ranked 489,[7] and dropping to 525 in the following year's list, having not competed for a year.