🔗 Share this article 'He brought laughter': Honoring the game's taken talent a score of years on. Paul Hunter won The Masters thrice during a brief yet brilliant career. All the Leeds-born talent always wished to do was practice the game. A love for the game, developed at the tender age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his parents' coffee table in the city of Leeds, would lead to a professional career that saw him secure six major trophies in a six-year span. The present year marks 20 years since the beloved Hunter succumbed to cancer, just days before to his 28th birthday. But in spite of the loss of a once-in-a-generation player that went beyond the game he loved, his legacy and impact on the sport and those who knew him remain as powerful today. 'He just loved it': A Childhood Obsession "We'd never have known in a lifetime Paul would become a professional snooker player," Kristina Hunter recalls. "But he just was passionate about it." Alan Hunter remembers how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" besides snooker as a young boy. "He never stopped," he adds. "He would play every night after school." Beginning young: Hunter was acquainted with snooker from the age of three. After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a community venue to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the jump from miniature games with remarkable ease. His raw skill would be coached by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now former establishment in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon. Rapid Rise: From Teenager to Champion With his parents' pleas to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as practice took priority, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully focus on carving out a career in the game. It proved a masterstroke. Within half a decade, their young son had won his initial major win, the 1998 Welsh Open. Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the presence of elite players only, Hunter won three times, in consecutive years. 'A Cheeky Charm': The Man Behind the Cue But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's humble charm never deserted him. "He was incredibly composed did Paul," Alan says. "He got on with everybody." "When encountering him you'd like him," Kristina adds. "Paul was fun. He'd make you relaxed." Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "humorous, caring" and "never the first to depart from the party". With his effortless appeal, youthful appearance and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the modern era. No wonder then, that he was christened 'The Snooker World's Beckham'. Facing Adversity: His Final Years In 2005, a year that should have signaled the peak of his powers, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy. Multiple accounts from across the professional tour speak of the man's extraordinary commitment to fulfill commitments to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while going through treatment. Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The Crucible Theatre when he played at the World Championships that year. When he died in the mid-2000s, snooker's tight community lost one of its cherished personalities. "It's awful," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to go through that pain." A Lasting Impact: Inspiring Youth Hunter's true impact would be felt not in high society but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK. The Paul Hunter Foundation, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions to children all over the country. The program was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas fell sharply. "The goal was for a scheme to help get kids off the street," one organizer said. The Foundation helped pave the way for a huge coaching programme, which has opened up playing opportunities to children internationally. "He would have embraced what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a leading figure in the sport stated. Never Forgotten: A Lasting Presence Historic matches of their son's matches on YouTube 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. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be spoken of." Even though he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's top honor is a part of 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 personality, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is always remembered.
Paul Hunter won The Masters thrice during a brief yet brilliant career. All the Leeds-born talent always wished to do was practice the game. A love for the game, developed at the tender age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his parents' coffee table in the city of Leeds, would lead to a professional career that saw him secure six major trophies in a six-year span. The present year marks 20 years since the beloved Hunter succumbed to cancer, just days before to his 28th birthday. But in spite of the loss of a once-in-a-generation player that went beyond the game he loved, his legacy and impact on the sport and those who knew him remain as powerful today. 'He just loved it': A Childhood Obsession "We'd never have known in a lifetime Paul would become a professional snooker player," Kristina Hunter recalls. "But he just was passionate about it." Alan Hunter remembers how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" besides snooker as a young boy. "He never stopped," he adds. "He would play every night after school." Beginning young: Hunter was acquainted with snooker from the age of three. After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a community venue to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the jump from miniature games with remarkable ease. His raw skill would be coached by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now former establishment in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon. Rapid Rise: From Teenager to Champion With his parents' pleas to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as practice took priority, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully focus on carving out a career in the game. It proved a masterstroke. Within half a decade, their young son had won his initial major win, the 1998 Welsh Open. Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the presence of elite players only, Hunter won three times, in consecutive years. 'A Cheeky Charm': The Man Behind the Cue But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's humble charm never deserted him. "He was incredibly composed did Paul," Alan says. "He got on with everybody." "When encountering him you'd like him," Kristina adds. "Paul was fun. He'd make you relaxed." Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "humorous, caring" and "never the first to depart from the party". With his effortless appeal, youthful appearance and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the modern era. No wonder then, that he was christened 'The Snooker World's Beckham'. Facing Adversity: His Final Years In 2005, a year that should have signaled the peak of his powers, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy. Multiple accounts from across the professional tour speak of the man's extraordinary commitment to fulfill commitments to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while going through treatment. Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The Crucible Theatre when he played at the World Championships that year. When he died in the mid-2000s, snooker's tight community lost one of its cherished personalities. "It's awful," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to go through that pain." A Lasting Impact: Inspiring Youth Hunter's true impact would be felt not in high society but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK. The Paul Hunter Foundation, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions to children all over the country. The program was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas fell sharply. "The goal was for a scheme to help get kids off the street," one organizer said. The Foundation helped pave the way for a huge coaching programme, which has opened up playing opportunities to children internationally. "He would have embraced what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a leading figure in the sport stated. Never Forgotten: A Lasting Presence Historic matches of their son's matches on YouTube 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. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be spoken of." Even though he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's top honor is a part of 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 personality, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is always remembered.