🔗 Share this article 'He was a joy': Remembering the game's taken talent two decades on. Paul Hunter secured The Masters on three occasions during a compact but stellar career. All the young snooker player always wished to do was practice the game. A competitive passion, sparked at the very young age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his home's central table in Leeds, would lead to a pro playing days that saw him secure six major trophies in half a dozen years. The present year marks two decades since the popular Hunter passed away from cancer, days short to his birthday marking 28 years. But despite the loss of a phenomenal skill that went beyond the sport he adored, his influence and memory on the sport and those who were close to him persist as vibrant now. 'The game was his life': The Formative Years "It was impossible to foresee in a lifetime Paul would become a professional snooker player," Hunter's mum recalls. "Yet he just was passionate about it." His dad recalls how his son "cared little for anything else" except for snooker as a child. "His dedication was constant," he notes. "He competed every night after school." A prodigy: Hunter was introduced to snooker from the toddler years. After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the jump from table top snooker with aplomb. His natural ability would be nurtured by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now former establishment in the Leeds district of Yeadon. Metoric Ascent: A Star is Born With his family's urging to do his homework often being ignored as training came first, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully concentrate on carving out a career in the game. It proved a masterstroke. Within a short period, their still-teenage son had won his maior professional trophy, the 1998 Welsh Open. Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the presence of exclusively the best, Hunter was victorious three times, in consecutive years. 'Paul was fun': The Man Behind the Cue But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature never faded. "He was incredibly composed did Paul," Alan says. "He connected with everybody." "When encountering him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina adds. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you comfortable." Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "witty, generous" and "never the first to depart from the party". With his natural likability, boyish good looks and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new 21st Century. No wonder then, that he was nicknamed 'The Beckham of the Baize'. A Brave Battle: A Fight Against Cancer In 2005, a year that should have signaled the zenith of his talent, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy. Multiple anecdotes 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 rapturous applause at The Crucible Theatre when he competed in the World Championships that year. When he succumbed in autumn 2006, 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 suffer such a loss." A Foundation for the Future: The Paul Hunter Foundation Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in palaces and castles 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 youths all over the country. The program was so successful that, according to reports, issues with young people in some areas fell sharply. "The goal was for a program to help provide a positive outlet," one organizer said. The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a major coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children all over the world. "He would have embraced what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a senior official in the sport stated. Never Forgotten: A Lasting Presence Archive videos of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "in touch with his memory". "I can bring it up and I can watch Paul whenever I wish," Kristina says. "It's wonderful!" "We like to reminisce about Paul," she concludes. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be mentioned at all." Although he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's ultimate trophy is ingrained in the sport's history. The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, starts later this month. The winner will lift the memorial cup. But for all his accomplishments, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is never forgotten.
Paul Hunter secured The Masters on three occasions during a compact but stellar career. All the young snooker player always wished to do was practice the game. A competitive passion, sparked at the very young age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his home's central table in Leeds, would lead to a pro playing days that saw him secure six major trophies in half a dozen years. The present year marks two decades since the popular Hunter passed away from cancer, days short to his birthday marking 28 years. But despite the loss of a phenomenal skill that went beyond the sport he adored, his influence and memory on the sport and those who were close to him persist as vibrant now. 'The game was his life': The Formative Years "It was impossible to foresee in a lifetime Paul would become a professional snooker player," Hunter's mum recalls. "Yet he just was passionate about it." His dad recalls how his son "cared little for anything else" except for snooker as a child. "His dedication was constant," he notes. "He competed every night after school." A prodigy: Hunter was introduced to snooker from the toddler years. After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the jump from table top snooker with aplomb. His natural ability would be nurtured by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now former establishment in the Leeds district of Yeadon. Metoric Ascent: A Star is Born With his family's urging to do his homework often being ignored as training came first, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully concentrate on carving out a career in the game. It proved a masterstroke. Within a short period, their still-teenage son had won his maior professional trophy, the 1998 Welsh Open. Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the presence of exclusively the best, Hunter was victorious three times, in consecutive years. 'Paul was fun': The Man Behind the Cue But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature never faded. "He was incredibly composed did Paul," Alan says. "He connected with everybody." "When encountering him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina adds. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you comfortable." Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "witty, generous" and "never the first to depart from the party". With his natural likability, boyish good looks and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new 21st Century. No wonder then, that he was nicknamed 'The Beckham of the Baize'. A Brave Battle: A Fight Against Cancer In 2005, a year that should have signaled the zenith of his talent, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy. Multiple anecdotes 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 rapturous applause at The Crucible Theatre when he competed in the World Championships that year. When he succumbed in autumn 2006, 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 suffer such a loss." A Foundation for the Future: The Paul Hunter Foundation Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in palaces and castles 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 youths all over the country. The program was so successful that, according to reports, issues with young people in some areas fell sharply. "The goal was for a program to help provide a positive outlet," one organizer said. The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a major coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children all over the world. "He would have embraced what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a senior official in the sport stated. Never Forgotten: A Lasting Presence Archive videos of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "in touch with his memory". "I can bring it up and I can watch Paul whenever I wish," Kristina says. "It's wonderful!" "We like to reminisce about Paul," she concludes. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be mentioned at all." Although he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's ultimate trophy is ingrained in the sport's history. The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, starts later this month. The winner will lift the memorial cup. But for all his accomplishments, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is never forgotten.