🔗 Share this article 'He was a joy': Honoring snooker's lost great 20 years 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 very young age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his family's living room table in his Leeds home, would lead to a pro playing days that saw him secure half a dozen major wins in half a dozen years. The present year marks a score of years since the popular Hunter passed away from cancer, just days before to his twenty-eighth birthday. But notwithstanding the loss of a generational talent that transcended the pastime he cherished, his legacy and impact on the game and those who followed his career persist as strong as ever. 'His passion was clear': Early Beginnings "We could not have predicted in a million years our son would become a pro on the circuit," Hunter's mum says. "However he just loved it." Alan Hunter recalls how his son "showed no interest in anything else" except for snooker as a youth. "His dedication was constant," he adds. "He would play every night after school." A prodigy: Hunter was acquainted with snooker from the toddler years. After persistently asking his dad to take him to a local club to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the leap from miniature games with aplomb. His mercurial talent would be nurtured by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now closed venue in the area of Yeadon. Metoric Ascent: The Path to Glory With his mother and father's requests to do his homework regularly going unheeded as the game dominated, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully concentrate on forging a career in the game. It was a resounding success. Within a short period, their adolescent had won his first ranking title, the late-nineties Welsh championship. Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the involvement of exclusively the best, Hunter was victorious on three occasions, in consecutive years. 'A Gracious Competitor': The Man Behind the Cue But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never deserted him. "His demeanor was excellent did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody." "If you met him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina adds. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you relaxed." Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "humorous, caring" and "never the first to depart from the party". With his easy charm, boyish good looks and candid way with the press, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new millennium. No wonder then, that he was christened 'A Sporting Icon'. A Brave Battle: Illness and Resilience In 2005, a year that should have signaled the zenith of his talent, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy. Multiple accounts from across the sporting world speak of the man's extraordinary willingness to honor obligations to public appearances and promotional work, all while undergoing treatment. Despite harsh reactions, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a standing ovation at The Crucible Theatre when he turned out for the World Championships that year. When he succumbed in the mid-2000s, snooker's tight community lost one of its cherished personalities. "The pain is immense," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to lose a child." An Enduring Legacy: Giving Back Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in palaces and castles but in local sports centers across the UK. The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide accessible training to youths all over the country. The program was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas dropped significantly. "The aim remained for a program to help offer a constructive activity," one official said. The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a huge coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children internationally. "It would have thrilled him what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a senior official in the sport stated. Never Forgotten: Two Decades On Classic footage of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "connected to him". "I can watch it and I can watch Paul whenever I wish," Kristina says. "It's marvellous!" "We don't mind talking about Paul," she adds. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be mentioned at all." Although he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's greatest prize is etched into the sport's folklore. The Masters, the competition with which he is most associated, commences later this month. The winner will lift the Paul Hunter Trophy. But for all his accomplishments, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is never forgotten.
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 very young age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his family's living room table in his Leeds home, would lead to a pro playing days that saw him secure half a dozen major wins in half a dozen years. The present year marks a score of years since the popular Hunter passed away from cancer, just days before to his twenty-eighth birthday. But notwithstanding the loss of a generational talent that transcended the pastime he cherished, his legacy and impact on the game and those who followed his career persist as strong as ever. 'His passion was clear': Early Beginnings "We could not have predicted in a million years our son would become a pro on the circuit," Hunter's mum says. "However he just loved it." Alan Hunter recalls how his son "showed no interest in anything else" except for snooker as a youth. "His dedication was constant," he adds. "He would play every night after school." A prodigy: Hunter was acquainted with snooker from the toddler years. After persistently asking his dad to take him to a local club to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the leap from miniature games with aplomb. His mercurial talent would be nurtured by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now closed venue in the area of Yeadon. Metoric Ascent: The Path to Glory With his mother and father's requests to do his homework regularly going unheeded as the game dominated, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully concentrate on forging a career in the game. It was a resounding success. Within a short period, their adolescent had won his first ranking title, the late-nineties Welsh championship. Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the involvement of exclusively the best, Hunter was victorious on three occasions, in consecutive years. 'A Gracious Competitor': The Man Behind the Cue But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never deserted him. "His demeanor was excellent did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody." "If you met him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina adds. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you relaxed." Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "humorous, caring" and "never the first to depart from the party". With his easy charm, boyish good looks and candid way with the press, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new millennium. No wonder then, that he was christened 'A Sporting Icon'. A Brave Battle: Illness and Resilience In 2005, a year that should have signaled the zenith of his talent, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy. Multiple accounts from across the sporting world speak of the man's extraordinary willingness to honor obligations to public appearances and promotional work, all while undergoing treatment. Despite harsh reactions, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a standing ovation at The Crucible Theatre when he turned out for the World Championships that year. When he succumbed in the mid-2000s, snooker's tight community lost one of its cherished personalities. "The pain is immense," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to lose a child." An Enduring Legacy: Giving Back Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in palaces and castles but in local sports centers across the UK. The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide accessible training to youths all over the country. The program was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas dropped significantly. "The aim remained for a program to help offer a constructive activity," one official said. The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a huge coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children internationally. "It would have thrilled him what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a senior official in the sport stated. Never Forgotten: Two Decades On Classic footage of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "connected to him". "I can watch it and I can watch Paul whenever I wish," Kristina says. "It's marvellous!" "We don't mind talking about Paul," she adds. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be mentioned at all." Although he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's greatest prize is etched into the sport's folklore. The Masters, the competition with which he is most associated, commences later this month. The winner will lift the Paul Hunter Trophy. But for all his accomplishments, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is never forgotten.