Paul Hunter

Paul Alan Hunter (14 October 1978 – 9 October 2006) was an English snooker player. He was a three-time Masters champion. He won the event in 2001, 2002, and 2004. He also won three ranking events. He won the Welsh Open in 1998 and 2002 and the British Open in 2002. His highest world ranking was fourth in 2005.

Hunter's nickname was the "Beckham of the Baize". This was because of his good looks were similar to David Beckham. He died in 2006 due to cancer. He made 114 century breaks.

 Early life 
Hunter was born on 14 October 1978 in Leeds, England. He went to St Andrews Primary School and Cardinal Heenan High School. Aged nine, he was given an award for being the best best junior snooker player of the year. He went to Bradford to practise with professional Joe Johnson. Aged 14, he won the English Doubles Championship with Richard Brooke. Hunter went professional in July 1995 at the age of 16.

 Life and career 

 Early career (1995–2000) 
Four months later Hunter reached the second round of the 1995 UK Championship beating world number six Alan McManus 9–4. At the 1996 Welsh Open 
he reached the semi-final beating world champion Stephen Hendry in the last 16. The same year he reached the quarter-finals of the UK Championship, where he beat Willie Thorne 9–0, James Wattana 9–5 and Terry Murphy 9–7. Hunter played at the 1997 Masters, where he lost 1–5 against Mark Williams in the first round.

Hunter won his first ranking event at the 1998 Welsh Open. He defeated John Higgins 9–5 in the final. During the final, Hunter was behind 2-4 but won seven  from the next eight to win the match. Following the event, he reached the semi-finals of the 1998 UK Championship. He was the Snooker Writers Association's "young player of the year".

He qualified for the 1999 World Snooker Championship. He lost 8–10 in the first round to Stephen Hendry. He ended the season 12th in the world rankings. This meant he did not need to qualify for tournaments in the next season.

He reached the quarter-final at six events the following season. He was a runner-up at the 2001 Welsh Open, a semi-finalist at the British Open and Scottish Open, and a quarter-finalist at the Grand Prix and China Open.

 Masters winner (2001–2004) 
At the 2001 Masters, Hunter beat Matthew Stevens 6–5 in the first round, Peter Ebdon 6–3 in the quarter-finals and Stephen Hendry 6–4 in the semi-finals. In the final Hunter played Fergal O'Brien. He was behind 3–7, but won seven out of the next nine frames to win 10–9. After winning, Hunter commented that he and his girlfriend had sex between sessions when losing 2-6 and had caused him to play better.

At the following year's event, he also won. He beat Stephen Lee 6–3 in the first round, Peter Ebdon 6–5 in the quarter-finals and Alan McManus 6–5 in the semi-finals where he met Mark Williams in the final. Hunter lost all of the first five frames, but won the match 10–9. Hunter was only the third player to win Masters twice in a row along with Cliff Thorburn and Stephen Hendry. Hunter also won his second ranking event, winning the 2002 Welsh Open, beating Ken Doherty 9–2 in the final. He was defeated 9–10 in the first round of the 2002 World Championship by Quinten Hann. Later in 2002, Hunter won his third ranking event, the British Open defeating Ian McCulloch 9–4 in the final. As defending Masters champion, Hunter reached the semi-finals of the 2003 event, but lost 3–6 to Mark Williams.

In the 2003 World Snooker Championship, he defeated Allister Carter 10–5, Matthew Stevens 13–6 and Peter Ebdon 13–12 to reach the semi-finals. In his best-of-33-frames semi-final, Hunter established a 15–9 lead over Ken Doherty, however he only could win one of the next nine frames, and lost the match 16–17.The match was later shown as a "Crucible classic" on the BBC during the original dates for the 2020 World Snooker Championship when the event was delayed. Despite the loss, he earned a place in the world's top eight in the 2003-2004 world rankings for the first time in his career, having been ranked number nine for the previous two seasons.

In 2003–04, Hunter won the 2004 Masters for the third time in four years. Hunter was behind Ronnie O'Sullivan during the match 1–6, 2–7, 6–8 and 7–9 before winning the final three frames to win. He made five century breaks in the match. Hunter also reached the final of the Players Championship, but lost 7–9 against Jimmy White. At the 2004 Premier League Snooker event, he made his career highest break, a 146 in a 3–5 loss to Marco Fu. He reached the second round of the 2004 World Snooker Championship, where he lost 12–13 against Matthew Stevens, despite leading at both 10–6 and 12–10.

Hunter began the 2004–05 season, by reaching the semi-finals of the Grand Prix, where he lost 3–6 to Ronnie O'Sullivan. He then reached the quarter-finals of the 2005 China Open, just days after discovering that he was suffering from cancer. His career-high ranking was number four in the world during the 2004-2005 season, which dropped to number five the following season.

 Later years and illness (2005–2006) 
On 6 April 2005, Hunter announced that he was suffering cancer. Hunter returned to snooker for the start of the 2005–06 season, but lost to Rory McLeod in the first round of the Grand Prix. Hunter's next match of the season was at the UK Championship against Jamie Burnett, in which Hunter was 6–8 down but won the match 9–8. Despite this Hunter lost in the next round 2–9 against eventual champion Ding Junhui. He lost in the first round of the 2006 World Championship 5–10 to Neil Robertson, his last ever match.

He slipped from 5th to 34th in the 2006/2007 rankings. Hunter admitted that he was worse than the previous year and confirmed that he had been in continuous pain. On 27 July 2006, the WPBSA confirmed that, following a members' vote, the rules would be changed to allow Hunter to sit out the entire 2006–2007 season with his world ranking frozen at 34. He intended to devote the year to treatment for his cancer.

Death and legacy
Hunter died at 8:20 pm on 9 October 2006 – just five days short of his 28th birthday – at the Kirkwood Hospice in Huddersfield. Prior to the Premier League Snooker matches on 12 October 2006, players Jimmy White, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Ken Doherty and Ding Junhui, along with referee Alan Chamberlain and commentators Willie Thorne and Phil Yates, all stood for a moment of silence to remember Hunter. He left a wife, Lindsey, and one daughter. His funeral took place on 19 October 2006 at Leeds Parish Church.

Fellow snooker players Stephen Hendry, Mark Williams, Jimmy White, Matthew Stevens and Ken Doherty led calls for the Masters trophy to be named in Hunter's memory. Instead, then non-ranking German Open in Fürth was renamed the Paul Hunter Classic in his honour; an event first won by Hunter. Also in 2007, the amateur English Open tournament was renamed the Paul Hunter English Open. On 20 April 2016, the Masters trophy was indeed renamed in Hunter's honour. World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn said they had "messed up" by not doing so sooner.

In 2006, Hunter was awarded the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award – his widow Lindsey accepted the award on his behalf. A 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". Hunter made 114 competitive century breaks in the course of his professional career, including a high break of 146.

Personal life
Hunter and Lindsey Fell, a beauty therapist, married in August 2004 in Jamaica. On 26 December 2005, Lindsey gave birth to their first and only child, daughter Evie Rose, who weighed . He was seen as an exciting player and became known as the "Beckham of the Baize" named after football player David Beckham due to his looks. Hunter made comments that his first Masters win was due to having sex between sessions, which he referred to as "plan bonk". After his death, Lindsay wrote Unbreakable: My Life with Paul – a Story of Extraordinary Courage and Love covering Paul's snooker career, life and death.

Performance and rankings timeline
<div style="width:auto; overflow:scroll">
 Tournament 1992/93 1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 1999/00 2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 RankingFrom the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.<ref="nb">New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.</ref>12251112211234456415412511111362457759 Ranking tournaments Championship LeagueTournament Not HeldNon-Ranking Event3RRR AA European MastersThe event was called the European Open (1992/1993–1996/1997), Irish Open (1998/1999) and Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008) LQQF1R1RWNH2R Not Held2RQFQFSFF1RNR Tournament Not HeldQF2RWD2R1R2RLQSF British OpenQF2RWF1RWSFQF3RWQFQFW Tournament Not Held3R1R1R English Open Tournament Not HeldQF4R4R ASFF3RSF Wuhan Open Tournament Not Held1R Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held4R3R1RSF4RF2R A  Tournament Not Held1R2R1RWQFQF LQ3R Not Held3R UK Championship LQ LQ LQSFF1RWSFWQFQF2R2R3RSF1RQFFW2R2R4R4RQFQF4R2RQF4R3R1R2R Shoot-OutTournament Not HeldNon-Ranking Event A A A A2R A A A Scottish OpenThe event was called the International Open (1992/1993–1996/1997) and the Players Championship (2003/2004) LQ LQWWSFFSFQF3R2RSF2R Tournament Not Held MR Not HeldFSF4R4R2RF2RSF World Grand PrixTournament Not HeldNR2R1R2R1RQF2R1R DNQ1R German MastersThe event was called the German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998) Not HeldWSFW NR Tournament Not Held WD2R LQ2R1R LQ LQ A1R1R WD LQ LQQF Welsh Open LQ LQF3RQFF3RWQFQF2R3R3R3R2RQF2RWW2R2RQFW4R1RWQFQF3R2R3RSF Players ChampionshipThe event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013) and the Players Championship Grand Final (2013/2014–2015/2016) Tournament Not Held DNQ1R1RQF1R DNQ1R1RQFQFWQF DNQQF World OpenThe event was called the Grand Prix (1992/1993–2000/2001 and 2004/2005–2009/2010), the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004) and the Haikou World Open (2011/2012–2013/2014)3R3RWF3RF1RWWDQF3RF1RWQF2RWSFAQFSFQF Not HeldQF3R ASFNot Held1R Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQQFQFF DNQ1R World Championship LQ LQ1RQFQFWSFSFFQFQF2R2R1RW2RW2RW2R1R1R2RQFFFF2R2RSFQF Non-ranking tournaments Shanghai Masters Tournament Not Held Ranking Event2R2R Not HeldQF Champion of ChampionsTournament Not Held1R1RQFWQFQFQF1RFQFSF The Masters LQ LQF1R1R1RW1R1R1RQFSFFW1R1RSF1R1RSFQFQF1RQF1RSF1RQFFQF1R1RWorld Masters of SnookerTournament Not HeldQF Championship LeagueTournament Not HeldA2R2RRRA2RRRRRRRWWSFRRSFWWSF Former ranking tournaments Dubai ClassicThe event was called the Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and the Asian Classic (1996/1997) LQ LQ2RQF1R Tournament Not Held Malta Grand Prix Not Held Non-Ranking EventQFNR Tournament Not Held Thailand MastersThe event was called the Asian Open (1992/1993) and the Thailand Open (1993/1994–1996/1997) LQ LQ1RQF1R1RQF1RSFQF NR Not Held NR Tournament Not Held Irish Masters Non-Ranking EventFQF1R NH NR Tournament Not Held Northern Ireland Trophy Tournament Not HeldNR3R2RSF Tournament Not Held Wuxi ClassicThe event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010) Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking EventAF2R Tournament Not Held Australian Goldfields OpenThe event was called the Australian Open (1994/1995) and the Australian Masters (1995/1996) Not Held NR Tournament Not Held1RAA2RW Tournament Not Held Riga MastersThe event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016) Tournament Not Held MR3R A A A Tournament Not Held Shanghai Masters Tournament Not Held2R2RSFAQFW2R1R2R2RSFNRNot HeldNR Indian Open Tournament Not Held3R3RNH AWSF Tournament Not Held China OpenThe event was called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999) Tournament Not HeldNRW1R1RSF Not Held2RFQFQFF2RQF2R1R3RQFSF3R2R1R Tournament Not Held Tournament Not HeldNR2RF3R Tournament Not Held Turkish Masters Tournament Not Held3R Not Held Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR2R A A WD WD3R Not HeldWST ClassicTournament Not HeldQF NH Former non-ranking tournaments Australian Goldfields Open Not HeldW A Tournament Not Held Ranking Event Tournament Not Held Champions Super League Tournament Not HeldF Tournament Not Held German Masters Not Held Ranking EventQF Tournament Not Held Ranking Event Malta Grand Prix Not Held AF AFQFRSF Tournament Not Held Champions Cup Not Held AFQFWWSFSFW Tournament Not Held Scottish Masters1R A AQFSFSFFFQFWF Tournament Not Held World Champions v Asia Stars Tournament Not HeldF Tournament Not Held Northern Ireland Trophy Tournament Not Held1R Ranking Event Tournament Not Held Irish Masters A A A1RQFSFQFWQFW Ranking Event NHSF Tournament Not Held Warsaw Snooker TourTournament Not HeldFTournament Not Held Euro-Asia Masters ChallengeTournament Not Held ANot HeldWTournament Not Held Pot Black A ATournament Not HeldSFFQFTournament Not Held European Open Ranking Event Tournament Not Held Ranking EventSF Tournament Not Held Ranking Event World Series JerseyTournament Not HeldWTournament Not Held World Series BerlinTournament Not HeldSFTournament Not Held World Series MoscowTournament Not HeldWTournament Not Held World Series Grand FinalTournament Not HeldFTournament Not Held World Series KillarneyTournament Not HeldSFTournament Not Held World Series PragueTournament Not HeldSFTournament Not Held  Tournament Not HeldW Tournament Not Held Hainan Classic Tournament Not HeldW Tournament Not Held Power Snooker Tournament Not Held ARR Tournament Not Held Premier LeagueThe event was called the European League (1992/1993–1996/1997) A A A ARRSFWSFSFFRRF A A AFRRSF ARRSFTournament Not Held World Grand PrixTournament Not Held1R Ranking Event Shoot-OutTournament Not Held2R2R1R1R1R1RRanking Event Tournament Not HeldWRanking Event Romanian MastersTournament Not HeldQFTournament Not Held Hong Kong MastersTournament Not HeldQFTournament Not HeldSF NH Tournament Not HeldAQFANHA3RQFRRAAAFNot HeldQFNH
Performance Table LegendLQ 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-finalsSF lost in the semi-finalsF lost in the finalW won the tournamentDNQ did not qualify for the tournamentA did not participate in the tournamentWD withdrew from the tournamentDQ disqualified from 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.MR / Minor-Ranking Event  means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.PA / Pro-am Event  means an event is/was a pro-am event.

Career finals
Ranking finals: 5 (3 titles, 2 runners-up)
OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScoreRef.Winner 1. 1998 Welsh Open  9–5 Runner-up 1. 2001 Welsh Open  2–9 Winner 2. 2002 Welsh Open (2)  9–7 Winner 3. 2002 British Open  9–4 Runner-up 2. 2004 Players Championship  7–9 

Non-ranking finals: 3 (3 titles)
Legend  The Masters (3–0)  Other (0–0)

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScoreRef.Winner 1. 2001 The Masters  10–9 Winner 2. 2002 The Masters (2)  10–9 Winner 3. 2004 The Masters (3)  10–9 

Pro-am finals: 1 (1 title)
OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScoreRef.Winner 1.  2004  Grand Prix Fürth   4–2  

Amateur finals: 1 (1 runner-up)
OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScoreRef.Runner-up 1. 1995 English Amateur Championship  7–8 

References

Other websites
 BBC Sport profile for Paul Hunter
 Snooker Club profile for Paul Hunter 
 The Paul Hunter Foundation Official Website 

Category:Deaths from stomach cancer
Category:Cancer deaths in England
Category:2006 deaths
Category:1978 births
Category:English snooker players