🔗 Share this article 'Paul was fun': Remembering the sport's lost great two decades on. The snooker star won The Masters three times during a brief yet brilliant career. All Paul Hunter ever wanted to do was play snooker. A sporting bug, developed at the very young age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his parents' coffee table in Leeds, would result in a pro playing days that saw him win half a dozen major wins in six years. This year marks a score of years since the beloved Hunter passed away from cancer, mere days prior to his twenty-eighth birthday. But in spite of the loss of a generational talent that went beyond the pastime he cherished, his enduring mark on the game and those who followed his career remain as vibrant now. 'The game was his life': A Childhood Obsession "We could not have predicted in a million years our son would become a professional snooker player," his mother says. "Yet he just loved it." His dad recalls how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" except for snooker as a young boy. "He was relentless," he notes. "He would play every night after school." Early starter: Hunter was introduced to snooker from the toddler years. After persistently asking his dad to take him to a local club to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the jump from miniature games with aplomb. His raw skill would be developed by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now closed venue in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon. Quick Success: A Star is Born With his family's urging to do his homework regularly going unheeded as the game dominated, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully concentrate on carving out a career in the game. It proved a masterstroke. Within five years, their adolescent had won his initial major win, the late-nineties Welsh championship. Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the lineup featuring elite players only, Hunter was victorious three times, in consecutive years. 'Paul was fun': The Man Behind the Cue But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never faded. "He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody." "If you met him you'd take to him," Kristina adds. "Paul was fun. He'd make you comfortable." Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "witty, generous" and "never the first to depart from the party". With his natural likability, handsome features and candid way with the press, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new millennium. No wonder then, that he was dubbed 'The Snooker World's Beckham'. A Brave Battle: His Final Years In the mid-2000s, a year that should have signaled the peak of his powers, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment. Multiple accounts from across the sporting world highlight the man's extraordinary willingness to fulfill commitments to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while enduring treatment. Despite harsh reactions, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The famous Sheffield venue when he competed in the World Championships that year. When he passed away in autumn 2006, snooker's tight community lost one of its most popular brothers. "The pain is immense," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to suffer such a loss." An Enduring Legacy: Giving Back Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in royal circles but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK. The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide accessible training 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 idea was for a scheme to help get kids off the street," one official said. The Foundation helped lay the groundwork 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 chairman in the sport stated. Never Forgotten: Two Decades On Archive videos of their son's matches online help his parents stay "connected to him". "I can watch it and I can watch Paul at any moment," Kristina says. "It's wonderful!" "We don't mind talking about Paul," she continues. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be recalled." While he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have secured snooker's greatest prize is a part of the sport's folklore. The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, starts later this month. The winner will lift the Paul Hunter Trophy. But for all his achievements, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is always remembered.
The snooker star won The Masters three times during a brief yet brilliant career. All Paul Hunter ever wanted to do was play snooker. A sporting bug, developed at the very young age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his parents' coffee table in Leeds, would result in a pro playing days that saw him win half a dozen major wins in six years. This year marks a score of years since the beloved Hunter passed away from cancer, mere days prior to his twenty-eighth birthday. But in spite of the loss of a generational talent that went beyond the pastime he cherished, his enduring mark on the game and those who followed his career remain as vibrant now. 'The game was his life': A Childhood Obsession "We could not have predicted in a million years our son would become a professional snooker player," his mother says. "Yet he just loved it." His dad recalls how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" except for snooker as a young boy. "He was relentless," he notes. "He would play every night after school." Early starter: Hunter was introduced to snooker from the toddler years. After persistently asking his dad to take him to a local club to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the jump from miniature games with aplomb. His raw skill would be developed by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now closed venue in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon. Quick Success: A Star is Born With his family's urging to do his homework regularly going unheeded as the game dominated, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully concentrate on carving out a career in the game. It proved a masterstroke. Within five years, their adolescent had won his initial major win, the late-nineties Welsh championship. Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the lineup featuring elite players only, Hunter was victorious three times, in consecutive years. 'Paul was fun': The Man Behind the Cue But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never faded. "He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody." "If you met him you'd take to him," Kristina adds. "Paul was fun. He'd make you comfortable." Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "witty, generous" and "never the first to depart from the party". With his natural likability, handsome features and candid way with the press, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new millennium. No wonder then, that he was dubbed 'The Snooker World's Beckham'. A Brave Battle: His Final Years In the mid-2000s, a year that should have signaled the peak of his powers, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment. Multiple accounts from across the sporting world highlight the man's extraordinary willingness to fulfill commitments to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while enduring treatment. Despite harsh reactions, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The famous Sheffield venue when he competed in the World Championships that year. When he passed away in autumn 2006, snooker's tight community lost one of its most popular brothers. "The pain is immense," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to suffer such a loss." An Enduring Legacy: Giving Back Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in royal circles but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK. The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide accessible training 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 idea was for a scheme to help get kids off the street," one official said. The Foundation helped lay the groundwork 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 chairman in the sport stated. Never Forgotten: Two Decades On Archive videos of their son's matches online help his parents stay "connected to him". "I can watch it and I can watch Paul at any moment," Kristina says. "It's wonderful!" "We don't mind talking about Paul," she continues. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be recalled." While he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have secured snooker's greatest prize is a part of the sport's folklore. The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, starts later this month. The winner will lift the Paul Hunter Trophy. But for all his achievements, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is always remembered.