🔗 Share this article 'Paul was fun': Reflecting on the sport's taken talent two decades on. Paul Hunter won The Masters on three occasions during a brief yet brilliant career. Everything the young snooker player ever wanted to do was compete on the baize. A love for the game, developed at the tender age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his family's living room table in his Leeds home, would lead to a pro playing days that saw him claim six major trophies in a six-year span. The present year marks two decades since the popular Hunter passed away from cancer, just days before to his 28th birthday. But despite the tragic departure of a phenomenal skill that went beyond the sport he adored, his enduring mark on the game and those who followed his career remain as powerful today. 'He just loved it': Early Beginnings "We'd never have known in a billion years Paul would become a pro on the circuit," Hunter's mum states. "Yet he just was passionate about it." Hunter's father recalls how his son "cared little for anything else" except for snooker as a youth. "He was relentless," he says. "He competed every night after school." A prodigy: Hunter was acquainted with snooker from the very young age. After persistently asking his dad to take him to a community venue to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the jump from table top snooker with remarkable ease. His natural ability would be coached by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now defunct club in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon. Quick Success: A Star is Born With his mother and father's requests to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as training came first, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully dedicate himself to carving out a career in the game. It was a resounding success. Within a short period, their young son had won his initial major win, the late-nineties Welsh championship. Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the lineup featuring elite players only, Hunter was victorious three times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004. 'A Cheeky Charm': His Enduring Personality But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never left him. "He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He got on with everybody." "If you met him you'd like him," Kristina continues. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you comfortable." Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "funny, kind" and "never the first to depart from the party". With his easy charm, boyish good looks and honest interview style, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new 21st Century. No wonder then, that he was dubbed 'The Snooker World's Beckham'. Facing Adversity: His Final Years In that year, a year that should have signaled the height of his career, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy. Multiple stories from across the snooker circuit highlight the man's extraordinary dedication to fulfill commitments to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while undergoing treatment. Despite harsh reactions, Hunter played on through the illness and received a standing ovation at The famous Sheffield venue when he competed in the World Championships that year. When he died in October 2006, snooker's tight community lost one of its most popular brothers. "The pain is immense," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to suffer such a loss." A Foundation for the Future: Inspiring Youth Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in high society but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK. The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to children all over the country. The scheme was so successful that, according to reports, anti-social behavior in some areas dropped significantly. "The aim remained for a platform to help offer a constructive activity," one official said. The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a major coaching programme, which has extended playing opportunities to children globally. "It would have thrilled him what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a chairman in the sport stated. Forever in Memory: 20 Years Later Archive videos of their son's matches on YouTube help his parents stay "close to him". "I can watch it and I can watch Paul whenever I wish," Kristina says. "It's wonderful!" "We like to reminisce about Paul," she continues. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be spoken of." While he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's top honor is etched into the sport's folklore. The Masters, the competition with which he is most associated, begins later this month. The winner will lift the trophy named in his honor. But for all his achievements, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is always remembered.
Paul Hunter won The Masters on three occasions during a brief yet brilliant career. Everything the young snooker player ever wanted to do was compete on the baize. A love for the game, developed at the tender age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his family's living room table in his Leeds home, would lead to a pro playing days that saw him claim six major trophies in a six-year span. The present year marks two decades since the popular Hunter passed away from cancer, just days before to his 28th birthday. But despite the tragic departure of a phenomenal skill that went beyond the sport he adored, his enduring mark on the game and those who followed his career remain as powerful today. 'He just loved it': Early Beginnings "We'd never have known in a billion years Paul would become a pro on the circuit," Hunter's mum states. "Yet he just was passionate about it." Hunter's father recalls how his son "cared little for anything else" except for snooker as a youth. "He was relentless," he says. "He competed every night after school." A prodigy: Hunter was acquainted with snooker from the very young age. After persistently asking his dad to take him to a community venue to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the jump from table top snooker with remarkable ease. His natural ability would be coached by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now defunct club in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon. Quick Success: A Star is Born With his mother and father's requests to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as training came first, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully dedicate himself to carving out a career in the game. It was a resounding success. Within a short period, their young son had won his initial major win, the late-nineties Welsh championship. Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the lineup featuring elite players only, Hunter was victorious three times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004. 'A Cheeky Charm': His Enduring Personality But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never left him. "He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He got on with everybody." "If you met him you'd like him," Kristina continues. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you comfortable." Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "funny, kind" and "never the first to depart from the party". With his easy charm, boyish good looks and honest interview style, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new 21st Century. No wonder then, that he was dubbed 'The Snooker World's Beckham'. Facing Adversity: His Final Years In that year, a year that should have signaled the height of his career, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy. Multiple stories from across the snooker circuit highlight the man's extraordinary dedication to fulfill commitments to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while undergoing treatment. Despite harsh reactions, Hunter played on through the illness and received a standing ovation at The famous Sheffield venue when he competed in the World Championships that year. When he died in October 2006, snooker's tight community lost one of its most popular brothers. "The pain is immense," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to suffer such a loss." A Foundation for the Future: Inspiring Youth Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in high society but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK. The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to children all over the country. The scheme was so successful that, according to reports, anti-social behavior in some areas dropped significantly. "The aim remained for a platform to help offer a constructive activity," one official said. The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a major coaching programme, which has extended playing opportunities to children globally. "It would have thrilled him what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a chairman in the sport stated. Forever in Memory: 20 Years Later Archive videos of their son's matches on YouTube help his parents stay "close to him". "I can watch it and I can watch Paul whenever I wish," Kristina says. "It's wonderful!" "We like to reminisce about Paul," she continues. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be spoken of." While he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's top honor is etched into the sport's folklore. The Masters, the competition with which he is most associated, begins later this month. The winner will lift the trophy named in his honor. But for all his achievements, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is always remembered.