š Share this article 'Paul was fun': Reflecting on snooker's taken talent a score of years on. Paul Hunter claimed The Masters three times during a brief yet brilliant career. All Paul Hunter always wished to do was play snooker. A competitive passion, developed at the very young age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his family's living room table in his Leeds home, would lead to a life on the tour that saw him secure six significant titles in half a dozen years. The present year marks a score of years since the adored Hunter died from cancer, days short to his twenty-eighth birthday. But in spite of the tragic departure of a generational talent that rose above the game he loved, his influence and memory on snooker and those who knew him remain as powerful today. 'His passion was clear': The Formative Years "We'd never have known in a billion years Paul would become a career sportsman," his mother says. "Yet he just loved it." Hunter's father recalls how his son "cared little for anything else" except for snooker as a youth. "His dedication was constant," he notes. "He practiced every night after school." Beginning young: Hunter was introduced to snooker from the very young age. After persistently asking his dad to take him to a local club to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the leap from home play with great skill. His natural ability would be developed by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now former establishment in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon. Quick Success: The Path to Glory With his parents' pleas to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as training came first, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully focus on carving out a career in the game. It was a resounding success. Within half a decade, their young son had won his maior professional trophy, the late-nineties Welsh championship. Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the presence of exclusively the best, Hunter triumphed three times, in the early 2000s. 'A Cheeky Charm': A Legacy of Character But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's humble charm never left him. "He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody." "When encountering him you'd like him," Kristina states. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you comfortable." Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "humorous, caring" and "typically the final guest at the party". With his natural likability, youthful appearance 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 christened 'A Sporting Icon'. Courage in Crisis: Illness and Resilience In 2005, a year that should have marked the zenith of his talent, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy. Multiple stories from across the snooker circuit speak of the man's extraordinary willingness to fulfill commitments to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while going through treatment. Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The famous Sheffield venue when he turned out for the World Championships that year. When he succumbed in October 2006, snooker's tight community lost one of its best-loved members. "It is tragic," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to go through that pain." A Foundation for the Future: Giving Back Hunter's true impact would be felt not in high society but in local sports centers 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 initiative was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas plummeted. "The goal was for a platform to help get kids off the street," one coach said. The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a significant 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. Forever in Memory: A Lasting Presence Classic footage of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "in touch with his memory". "I can access it and I can watch Paul at any moment," Kristina says. "It's marvellous!" "We are happy to speak about Paul," she concludes. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be spoken of." While he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's top honor is etched into the sport's history. The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, starts later this month. The winner will lift the trophy named in his honor. But for all his accomplishments, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.
Paul Hunter claimed The Masters three times during a brief yet brilliant career. All Paul Hunter always wished to do was play snooker. A competitive passion, developed at the very young age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his family's living room table in his Leeds home, would lead to a life on the tour that saw him secure six significant titles in half a dozen years. The present year marks a score of years since the adored Hunter died from cancer, days short to his twenty-eighth birthday. But in spite of the tragic departure of a generational talent that rose above the game he loved, his influence and memory on snooker and those who knew him remain as powerful today. 'His passion was clear': The Formative Years "We'd never have known in a billion years Paul would become a career sportsman," his mother says. "Yet he just loved it." Hunter's father recalls how his son "cared little for anything else" except for snooker as a youth. "His dedication was constant," he notes. "He practiced every night after school." Beginning young: Hunter was introduced to snooker from the very young age. After persistently asking his dad to take him to a local club to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the leap from home play with great skill. His natural ability would be developed by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now former establishment in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon. Quick Success: The Path to Glory With his parents' pleas to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as training came first, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully focus on carving out a career in the game. It was a resounding success. Within half a decade, their young son had won his maior professional trophy, the late-nineties Welsh championship. Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the presence of exclusively the best, Hunter triumphed three times, in the early 2000s. 'A Cheeky Charm': A Legacy of Character But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's humble charm never left him. "He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody." "When encountering him you'd like him," Kristina states. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you comfortable." Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "humorous, caring" and "typically the final guest at the party". With his natural likability, youthful appearance 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 christened 'A Sporting Icon'. Courage in Crisis: Illness and Resilience In 2005, a year that should have marked the zenith of his talent, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy. Multiple stories from across the snooker circuit speak of the man's extraordinary willingness to fulfill commitments to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while going through treatment. Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The famous Sheffield venue when he turned out for the World Championships that year. When he succumbed in October 2006, snooker's tight community lost one of its best-loved members. "It is tragic," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to go through that pain." A Foundation for the Future: Giving Back Hunter's true impact would be felt not in high society but in local sports centers 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 initiative was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas plummeted. "The goal was for a platform to help get kids off the street," one coach said. The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a significant 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. Forever in Memory: A Lasting Presence Classic footage of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "in touch with his memory". "I can access it and I can watch Paul at any moment," Kristina says. "It's marvellous!" "We are happy to speak about Paul," she concludes. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be spoken of." While he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's top honor is etched into the sport's history. The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, starts later this month. The winner will lift the trophy named in his honor. But for all his accomplishments, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.