🔗 Share this article 'He brought laughter': Remembering snooker's lost great two decades on. Paul Hunter won The Masters on three occasions during a brief yet brilliant career. Everything Paul Hunter truly desired to do was practice the game. A competitive passion, sparked at the age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his parents' coffee table in Leeds, would lead to a pro playing days that saw him win half a dozen major wins in a six-year span. Now marks 20 years since the popular Hunter died from cancer, days short to his twenty-eighth birthday. But notwithstanding the passing of a generational talent that rose above the game he loved, his legacy and impact on the sport and those who knew him remain as powerful today. 'He just loved it': The Formative Years "We could not have predicted in a lifetime Paul would become a professional snooker player," Hunter's mum states. "But he just loved it." His dad remembers how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" except for snooker as a youth. "His dedication was constant," he says. "He would play every night after school." A prodigy: Hunter was acquainted with snooker from the age of three. After persistently asking his dad to take him to a community venue to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the transition from home play with aplomb. His natural ability would be coached by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now defunct club in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon. Rapid Rise: The Path to Glory With his family's urging to do his homework often being ignored as practice took priority, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully focus on carving out a career in the game. It proved a masterstroke. Within half a decade, their adolescent had won his first ranking title, the 1998 Welsh Open. Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the involvement of only the top competitors, Hunter was victorious three times, in consecutive years. 'A Gracious Competitor': His Enduring Personality But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature 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 states. "He brought joy. He'd make you comfortable." Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "witty, generous" and "typically the final guest at the party". With his effortless appeal, handsome features and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new 21st Century. No wonder then, that he was nicknamed 'A Sporting Icon'. A Brave Battle: A Fight Against Cancer In that year, a year that should have signaled the height of his career, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment. Multiple accounts from across the snooker circuit highlight the man's extraordinary dedication to keep promises to public appearances and promotional work, all while enduring treatment. Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a standing ovation at The World Championship arena when he competed in 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. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to lose a child." A Lasting Impact: Inspiring Youth Hunter's true impact would be felt not in royal circles 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 scheme 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 organizer said. The Foundation helped establish the basis for a major coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children internationally. "Paul would have loved what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a chairman in the sport stated. Forever in Memory: Two Decades On Archive videos of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "close to him". "I can watch it and I can watch Paul at any moment," Kristina says. "It's wonderful!" "We like to reminisce about Paul," she adds. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be recalled." While he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have gone on to lift 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 trophy named in his honor. But for all his successes, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.
Paul Hunter won The Masters on three occasions during a brief yet brilliant career. Everything Paul Hunter truly desired to do was practice the game. A competitive passion, sparked at the age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his parents' coffee table in Leeds, would lead to a pro playing days that saw him win half a dozen major wins in a six-year span. Now marks 20 years since the popular Hunter died from cancer, days short to his twenty-eighth birthday. But notwithstanding the passing of a generational talent that rose above the game he loved, his legacy and impact on the sport and those who knew him remain as powerful today. 'He just loved it': The Formative Years "We could not have predicted in a lifetime Paul would become a professional snooker player," Hunter's mum states. "But he just loved it." His dad remembers how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" except for snooker as a youth. "His dedication was constant," he says. "He would play every night after school." A prodigy: Hunter was acquainted with snooker from the age of three. After persistently asking his dad to take him to a community venue to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the transition from home play with aplomb. His natural ability would be coached by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now defunct club in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon. Rapid Rise: The Path to Glory With his family's urging to do his homework often being ignored as practice took priority, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully focus on carving out a career in the game. It proved a masterstroke. Within half a decade, their adolescent had won his first ranking title, the 1998 Welsh Open. Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the involvement of only the top competitors, Hunter was victorious three times, in consecutive years. 'A Gracious Competitor': His Enduring Personality But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature 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 states. "He brought joy. He'd make you comfortable." Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "witty, generous" and "typically the final guest at the party". With his effortless appeal, handsome features and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new 21st Century. No wonder then, that he was nicknamed 'A Sporting Icon'. A Brave Battle: A Fight Against Cancer In that year, a year that should have signaled the height of his career, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment. Multiple accounts from across the snooker circuit highlight the man's extraordinary dedication to keep promises to public appearances and promotional work, all while enduring treatment. Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a standing ovation at The World Championship arena when he competed in 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. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to lose a child." A Lasting Impact: Inspiring Youth Hunter's true impact would be felt not in royal circles 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 scheme 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 organizer said. The Foundation helped establish the basis for a major coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children internationally. "Paul would have loved what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a chairman in the sport stated. Forever in Memory: Two Decades On Archive videos of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "close to him". "I can watch it and I can watch Paul at any moment," Kristina says. "It's wonderful!" "We like to reminisce about Paul," she adds. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be recalled." While he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have gone on to lift 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 trophy named in his honor. But for all his successes, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.