 | |
| Born | (1978-10-14)14 October 1978 Leeds, England |
|---|---|
| Died | 9 October 2006(2006-10-09) (aged 27) Huddersfield, England |
| Sport country |  England |
| Nickname | Beckham of the Baize[1] |
| Professional | 1995–2006 |
| Highestranking | 4 (2004–05) |
| Century breaks | 114 |
| Tournament wins | |
| Ranking | 3 |
Paul Alan Hunter (14 October 1978 – 9 October 2006) was an English professionalsnooker player. He was a three-timeMasters champion, winning the event in2001,2002, and2004; on all three occasions, he recovered from a deficit in the final to claim the title on adeciding frame. He also won threeranking events: theWelsh Open in1998 and2002, and the2002 British Open.
Hunter was diagnosed withneuroendocrine tumours in March 2005, but he continued to play for several months after receiving the diagnosis. He died shortly before his 28th birthday in October 2006. A tournament inFürth, Germany, was renamed thePaul Hunter Classic in his memory, and he was posthumously awarded theBBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award. In April 2016, the Masters trophy was renamed the Paul Hunter Trophy. He made 114century breaks in professional competition, the highest of these a 146 in the2004 Premier League tournament. During the2004–05 season, Hunter attained a career-highranking of world number four.
Paul Alan Hunter was born on 14 October 1978 inLeeds,[2][3] England, where he attended theCardinal Heenan High School.[4] Hunter played alongside his father, Alan, at a young age and won many amateur junior events, including the English Doubles Championship, which he won aged 14 with fellow Yorkshireman Richard Brooke.[3] After leaving school at 14 to spend more time playing snooker,[5][6] he often travelled toBradford to practise alongside professional players such asJoe Johnson.[2] Hunter was the runner-up at the 1995English Amateur Championship, losing 7–8 toDavid Gray in the final.[7] He made his professional debut in July 1995 at age 16, with the help of his mentors Johnson andJimmy Michie.[4]
Four months after making his professional debut, Hunter reached the second round of the1995 UK Championship by defeatingAlan McManus, the sixth highest ranked player in thesnooker world rankings, 9–4.[8] Aged 17, he reached the semi-finals of the1996 Welsh Open, the youngest player to appear at this stage of a ranking event,[3] by defeating the world championStephen Hendry in the last 16.[9] He also reached the quarter-finals of the1996 UK Championship, where he completed awhitewash ofWillie Thorne 9–0, and bestedJames Wattana 9–5 andTerry Murphy 9–7, before losing 5–9 against Hendry, the eventual winner of the event.[10] Due in part to this performance, Hunter was awarded awildcard to play at the1997 Masters,[11] where he lost 1–5 againstMark Williams in the first round.[12] He reached the last 16 stage of the1997 Grand Prix, but was later disqualified for testing positive for cannabis. He was fined £4,550 and docked the entirety of the ranking points he had earned at the event.[2][13][14]
The following year, Hunter won his first ranking tournament at the1998 Welsh Open; after eliminatingPaul Wykes 5–3,Neal Foulds 5–2,Steve Davis 5–3,Nigel Bond 5–4, Alan McManus 5–3, andPeter Ebdon 6–1, he defeatedJohn Higgins 9–5 in the final. Hunter trailed 2–4 but won sevenframes from the next eight to win the match and the Welsh Open title.[15] He also reached the semi-finals of the1998 UK Championship, defeating bothJimmy White and Davis, before losing to Higgins.[16] For 1998, he was named the Snooker Writers Association's Young Player of the Year.[4][2]
Hunter played in the main stage of theWorld Snooker Championship for the first time in1999, after qualifying againstEuan Henderson.[17] He then lost 8–10 in the first round to Hendry, the eventual champion.[18] Hunter's performance that season elevated him to 12th in the1999–2000 world rankings, allowing him automatic qualification into the final stages of ranking events for the first time.[19][20] He retained his good form for the2000–01 season,[20] reaching at least the quarter-final stage in five ranking tournaments: he was a runner-up at the2001 Welsh Open,[21] a semi-finalist at theBritish Open andScottish Open,[22][23] and a quarter-finalist at theGrand Prix andChina Open.[24][25]
Ranked amongst the world's top 16 players in2000–01, Hunter gained entry into the invitationalMasters tournament. At the2001 Masters, he eliminated the defending championMatthew Stevens 6–5 in the first round, Peter Ebdon 6–3 in the quarter-finals, and Stephen Hendry 6–4 in the semi-finals.[26][27] He then metFergal O'Brien in the final; Hunter trailed 3–7 but won seven of the next nine frames to win 10–9.[27][28] After winning the Masters title, Hunter claimed that he and his fiancée had had sex during themid-session interval when he was trailing 2–6, which had caused him to play significantly better.[2][6]
At thefollowing year's Masters, he defeatedStephen Lee 6–3, Ebdon 6–5 and Alan McManus 6–5 to reach the final, where he met Mark Williams.[29] Despite losing the first five frames of the final, Hunter won the match and tournament on adeciding frame 10–9.[29] He was only the third player to retain the Masters title, afterCliff Thorburn (1985–1986) and Hendry (1989–1993).[30] Hunter won his second ranking event the same year, defeatingKen Doherty 9–2 in the final to win the2002 Welsh Open.[31] He lost toQuinten Hann in the first round of the2002 World Championship.[32] In November, he defeatedIan McCulloch 9–4 in the final of the2002 British Open to win the third ranking event of his career.[33] As the defending champion at the2003 Masters, Hunter progressed to the semi-finals but lost 3–6 to Williams.[34]
Hunter progressed past the second round of the World Championship for the first time in2003. He defeatedAli Carter 10–5, Stevens 13–6 and defending champion Ebdon 13–12 to reach the semi-finals.[35][36] In the best-of-33 frames semi-final, Hunter established an overnight lead of 15–9 over opponent Doherty. Despite leading by six frames, he won only one of the remaining nine, and lost 16–17.[37] Years later, theBBC broadcast the highlights of the match alongside other memorable matches in place of the2020 World Championship, which was postponed because of theCOVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.[38][39] Hunter's progress in the World Championship helped earn him a place in the world's top eight in the2003–04 rankings for the first time in his career, having been ranked number nine for the previous two seasons.[20]
In2003–04, Hunter won theMasters for the third time in four years. He trailedRonnie O'Sullivan throughout the final, with scores of 1–6, 2–7, 6–8, and 7–9, but took the remaining three frames to win 10–9. Hunter compiled fivecentury breaks in the match.[40][41] The 2004 Masters final was voted one of the best matches of all time byEurosport in 2020.[42] Hunter reached his last ranking event final at the2004 Players Championship, but lost 7–9 against Jimmy White.[43] At the2004 Premier League Snooker event, he made the highestbreak of his career, a 146 in a 3–5 loss toMarco Fu.[44] He reached the second round of the2004 World Championship, where he lost 12–13 against Stevens, despite leading 10–6 and 12–10.[45]
Hunter began the2004–05 season by reaching the semi-finals of theGrand Prix, where he lost 3–6 to O'Sullivan.[46] He won the 2004Fürth Grand Prix, apro-am competition, defeating Stevens 4–2 in the final; the event was later renamed in Hunter's honour.[47] He reached the quarter-finals of the2005 China Open in March 2005,[48] just days after being diagnosed with cancer.[49] His career-high ranking was world number four during2004–05,[50] which dropped to number fivethe following season.[20]
In April 2005, Hunter was diagnosed with malignantneuroendocrine tumours in his stomach,[19] a rare disease, the cause of which is unknown.[51] A spokesperson for theWorld Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) said at the time: "Paul will undergo treatment to cure himself of this illness. He would like to reassure his fans and supporters that, as with his snooker career, he is tenacious and positive in his fight against the disease."[52] Hunter receivedchemotherapy for his illness.[53]
Hunter returned to the circuit for the start of the2005–06 season but lost toRory McLeod in the first round of theGrand Prix.[54] Hunter's next match of the season was at the2005 UK Championship againstJamie Burnett, in which Hunter came back from 6–8 down to win the match 9–8.[55] Despite this, Hunter lost in the next round 2–9 against eventual championDing Junhui.[56] He lost in the first round of the2006 World Championship 5–10 toNeil Robertson, which was his last professional match.[2]
Slipping from 5th to 34th in the2006–07 rankings,[20][53][57] Hunter admitted he played worse than the previous year and confirmed that he had been in continuous pain.[58] Following a members' vote on 27 July 2006, the WPBSA announced its rules would be changed to allow Hunter to sit out the entire2006–07 snooker season with his world ranking frozen at 34. Hunter intended to devote the year to treatment for his cancer.[50][4]
Hunter died on 9 October 2006, aged 27, at theKirkwood Hospice inHuddersfield.[49][19] Prior to thePremier League Snooker matches on 12 October 2006, players, referees and commentators stood for amoment of silence to remember Hunter.[59] His funeral took place on 19 October 2006 atLeeds Parish Church.[60] Many snooker players attended the ceremony, and his best friend, Matthew Stevens, was apallbearer at the service.[60]
Following his death, fellow professionals Stephen Hendry, Mark Williams, Jimmy White, Matthew Stevens and Ken Doherty led immediate calls for theMasters trophy to be named in Hunter's memory.[61][62] The idea was ruled out at the time, but in 2007 the then-non-rankingFürth German Open, a tournament first won by Hunter in 2004, was renamed the Paul Hunter Classic in his honour.[63][64] The same year, the amateur English Open tournament was renamed the Paul Hunter English Open.[65] On 20 April 2016, the World Snooker chairmanBarry Hearn committed to renaming the Masters trophy in Hunter's honour, stating that the organisation had "messed up" by not doing so sooner.[66]
Hunter was posthumously awarded theBBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award in 2006, and his widow Lindsey accepted the award on his behalf.[67] Aregistered charity called The Paul Hunter Foundation was set up after his death with the "specific aim of giving disadvantaged, able bodied and disabled youngsters an opportunity to play snooker".[68]
Noted for his "flamboyant" and "fluent" style by snooker commentatorClive Everton,[69][70] Hunter was also described as being unfazed by bad luck or playing conditions by commentator Phil Yates,[71] and Barry Hearn said that Hunter's "mercurial talent" was a "sad loss" to the sport.[66] Over his 11-year professional career, Hunter's total prize money was £1.53 million.[58] He compiled 114 century breaks in professional competition,[72] including a high break of 146.[59]
Hunter married Lindsey Fell, a beauty therapist, in August 2004 in Jamaica.[19] The couple had one daughter, born on 26 December 2005.[57][73] After his death, Lindsey wrote the memoirUnbreakable: My Life with Paul – a Story of Extraordinary Courage and Love, covering his snooker career, his personal life and his death.[74] Hunter became known as the "Beckham of theBaize", a reference to football playerDavid Beckham.[3][75]
| Performance Table Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LQ | lost in the qualifying draw | #R | lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) | QF | lost in the quarter-finals |
| SF | lost in the semi–finals | F | lost in the final | W | won the tournament |
| A | did not participate in the tournament | ||||
| NH / Not Held | event was not held. | |||
| NR / Non-Ranking Event | event is/was no longer a ranking event. | |||
| R / Ranking Event | event is/was a ranking event. | |||
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 1998 | Welsh Open |  John Higgins | 9–5 | [84] |
| Runner-up | 1. | 2001 | Welsh Open |  Ken Doherty | 2–9 | [84] |
| Winner | 2. | 2002 | Welsh Open(2) | Ken Doherty | 9–7 | [84] |
| Winner | 3. | 2002 | British Open | Ian McCulloch | 9–4 | [85] |
| Runner-up | 2. | 2004 | Players Championship | Jimmy White | 7–9 | [86] |
| Legend |
|---|
| The Masters (3–0) |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 2001 | The Masters | Fergal O'Brien | 10–9 | [87] |
| Winner | 2. | 2002 | The Masters(2) |  Mark Williams | 10–9 | [87] |
| Winner | 3. | 2004 | The Masters(3) | Ronnie O'Sullivan | 10–9 | [87] |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 2004 | Grand Prix Fürth | Matthew Stevens | 4–2 | [47] |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 1992 | Pontins Junior Championship | David Gray | 3–0 | [88] |
| Runner-up | 1. | 1992 | British Under-18 Championship | Stephen Lee | 2–4 | [89] |
| Winner | 2. | 1993 | Pontins Junior Championship | Matthew Stevens | 4–2 | [90] |
| Winner | 3. | 1993 | Pontins Star of the Future | John Whitty | 3–2 | [91] |
| Winner | 4. | 1995 | English Under-17 Championship | David Gray | 5–4 | [92] |
| Runner-up | 2. | 1995 | English Amateur Championship | David Gray | 7–8 | [93] |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
