🔗 Share this article 'He brought laughter': Reflecting on the sport's departed star 20 years on. The talented player won The Masters thrice during a short but glittering career. All the young snooker player truly desired to do was compete on the baize. 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 the city of Leeds, would lead to a pro playing days that saw him win six significant titles in a six-year span. This year marks two decades since the beloved Hunter passed away from cancer, days short to his 28th birthday. But despite the tragic departure of a phenomenal skill that rose above the pastime he cherished, his influence and memory on snooker and those who knew him endure as vibrant now. 'His passion was clear': The Formative Years "We could not have predicted in a million years the boy would become a professional snooker player," Kristina Hunter states. "Yet he just loved it." Alan Hunter recounts how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" other than snooker as a youth. "He never stopped," he notes. "He would play every night after school." Beginning young: Hunter was introduced to snooker from the age of three. After persistently asking his dad to take him to a community venue to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the transition from table top snooker with remarkable ease. His raw skill would be developed by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now defunct club in the area of Yeadon. Rapid Rise: A Star is Born With his mother and father's requests to do his homework often being ignored as practice took priority, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully concentrate on forging a career in the game. It paid off in spades. Within a short period, their adolescent had won his initial major win, the Welsh Open of 1998. Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the lineup featuring exclusively the best, Hunter was victorious three times, in the early 2000s. 'A Gracious Competitor': The Man Behind the Cue But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature never faded. "He was incredibly composed did Paul," Alan says. "He got on with everybody." "Upon meeting him you'd like him," Kristina states. "He brought joy. He'd make you comfortable." Hunter's wife 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 straight-talking media manner, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new millennium. No wonder then, that he was dubbed 'The Snooker World's Beckham'. Courage in Crisis: 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 chemotherapy. Multiple stories from across the sporting world attest to the man's extraordinary dedication to honor obligations to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while going through treatment. Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter played on through the illness and received a standing ovation at The Crucible Theatre when he played at the World Championships that year. When he passed away in autumn 2006, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its cherished personalities. "It's awful," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to suffer such a loss." An Enduring Legacy: Giving Back Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in high society but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK. The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions to young people all over the country. The program was so successful that, according to reports, anti-social behavior in some areas dropped significantly. "The goal was for a program to help offer a constructive activity," one coach said. The Foundation helped establish the basis for a significant coaching programme, which has extended playing opportunities to children internationally. "It would have thrilled him what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a leading figure in the sport stated. Forever in Memory: 20 Years Later 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 at any moment," Kristina says. "It's a comfort!" "We are happy to speak about Paul," she adds. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be mentioned at all." Even though he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's ultimate trophy is etched into 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 dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is always remembered.
The talented player won The Masters thrice during a short but glittering career. All the young snooker player truly desired to do was compete on the baize. 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 the city of Leeds, would lead to a pro playing days that saw him win six significant titles in a six-year span. This year marks two decades since the beloved Hunter passed away from cancer, days short to his 28th birthday. But despite the tragic departure of a phenomenal skill that rose above the pastime he cherished, his influence and memory on snooker and those who knew him endure as vibrant now. 'His passion was clear': The Formative Years "We could not have predicted in a million years the boy would become a professional snooker player," Kristina Hunter states. "Yet he just loved it." Alan Hunter recounts how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" other than snooker as a youth. "He never stopped," he notes. "He would play every night after school." Beginning young: Hunter was introduced to snooker from the age of three. After persistently asking his dad to take him to a community venue to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the transition from table top snooker with remarkable ease. His raw skill would be developed by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now defunct club in the area of Yeadon. Rapid Rise: A Star is Born With his mother and father's requests to do his homework often being ignored as practice took priority, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully concentrate on forging a career in the game. It paid off in spades. Within a short period, their adolescent had won his initial major win, the Welsh Open of 1998. Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the lineup featuring exclusively the best, Hunter was victorious three times, in the early 2000s. 'A Gracious Competitor': The Man Behind the Cue But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature never faded. "He was incredibly composed did Paul," Alan says. "He got on with everybody." "Upon meeting him you'd like him," Kristina states. "He brought joy. He'd make you comfortable." Hunter's wife 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 straight-talking media manner, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new millennium. No wonder then, that he was dubbed 'The Snooker World's Beckham'. Courage in Crisis: 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 chemotherapy. Multiple stories from across the sporting world attest to the man's extraordinary dedication to honor obligations to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while going through treatment. Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter played on through the illness and received a standing ovation at The Crucible Theatre when he played at the World Championships that year. When he passed away in autumn 2006, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its cherished personalities. "It's awful," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to suffer such a loss." An Enduring Legacy: Giving Back Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in high society but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK. The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions to young people all over the country. The program was so successful that, according to reports, anti-social behavior in some areas dropped significantly. "The goal was for a program to help offer a constructive activity," one coach said. The Foundation helped establish the basis for a significant coaching programme, which has extended playing opportunities to children internationally. "It would have thrilled him what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a leading figure in the sport stated. Forever in Memory: 20 Years Later 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 at any moment," Kristina says. "It's a comfort!" "We are happy to speak about Paul," she adds. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be mentioned at all." Even though he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's ultimate trophy is etched into 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 dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is always remembered.