Paul Hunter English Open

Paul Alan Hunter (14 October 1978 – 9 October 2006) was an English professional snooker player. He was a three-time Masters champion, winning the event in 2001, 2002, and 2004; on all three occasions, he recovered from a deficit in the final to claim the title on a . He also won three ranking events: the Welsh Open in 1998 and 2002, and the 2002 British Open.

Hunter was diagnosed with neuroendocrine 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 in Fürth, Germany, was renamed the Paul Hunter Classic in his memory, and he was posthumously awarded the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award. In April 2016, the Masters trophy was renamed the Paul Hunter Trophy. He made 114 century breaks in professional competition, the highest of these a 146 in the 2004 Premier League tournament. During the 200405 season, Hunter attained a career-high ranking of world number four.

Early life

Paul Alan Hunter was born on 14 October 1978 in Leeds, England, where he attended the Cardinal Heenan High School. 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. After leaving school at 14 to spend more time playing snooker, he often travelled to Bradford to practise alongside professional players such as Joe Johnson. Hunter was the runner-up at the 1995 English Amateur Championship, losing 78 to David Gray in the final. He made his professional debut in July 1995 at age 16, with the help of his mentors Johnson and Jimmy Michie.

Career

Early career (1995–2000)

Four months after making his professional debut, Hunter reached the second round of the 1995 UK Championship by defeating Alan McManus, the sixth highest ranked player in the snooker world rankings, 94. Aged 17, he reached the semi-finals of the 1996 Welsh Open, the youngest player to appear at this stage of a ranking event, by defeating the world champion Stephen Hendry in the last 16. He also reached the quarter-finals of the 1996 UK Championship, where he completed a of Willie Thorne 90, and bested James Wattana 95 and Terry Murphy 97, before losing 59 against Hendry, the eventual winner of the event. Due in part to this performance, Hunter was awarded a wildcard to play at the 1997 Masters, where he lost 15 against Mark Williams in the first round. He reached the last 16 stage of the 1997 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.

The following year, Hunter won his first ranking tournament at the 1998 Welsh Open; after eliminating Paul Wykes 53, Neal Foulds 52, Steve Davis 53, Nigel Bond 54, Alan McManus 53, and Peter Ebdon 61, he defeated John Higgins 95 in the final. Hunter trailed 24 but won seven from the next eight to win the match and the Welsh Open title. He also reached the semi-finals of the 1998 UK Championship, defeating both Jimmy White and Davis, before losing to Higgins. For 1998, he was named the Snooker Writers Association's Young Player of the Year.

Hunter played in the main stage of the World Snooker Championship for the first time in 1999, after qualifying against Euan Henderson. He then lost 810 in the first round to Hendry, the eventual champion. Hunter's performance that season elevated him to 12th in the 19992000 world rankings, allowing him automatic qualification into the final stages of ranking events for the first time. He retained his good form for the 200001 season, reaching at least the quarter-final stage in five ranking tournaments: 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)

Ranked amongst the world's top 16 players in 200001, Hunter gained entry into the invitational Masters tournament. At the 2001 Masters, he eliminated the defending champion Matthew Stevens 65 in the first round, Peter Ebdon 63 in the quarter-finals, and Stephen Hendry 64 in the semi-finals. He then met Fergal O'Brien in the final; Hunter trailed 37 but won seven of the next nine frames to win 109. After winning the Masters title, Hunter claimed that he and his fiancée had had sex during the when he was trailing 26, which had caused him to play significantly better.

At the following year's Masters, he defeated Stephen Lee 63, Ebdon 65 and Alan McManus 65 to reach the final, where he met Mark Williams. Despite losing the first five frames of the final, Hunter won the match and tournament on a 109. He was only the third player to retain the Masters title, after Cliff Thorburn (19851986) and Hendry (19891993). Hunter won his second ranking event the same year, defeating Ken Doherty 92 in the final to win the 2002 Welsh Open. He lost to Quinten Hann in the first round of the 2002 World Championship. In November, he defeated Ian McCulloch 94 in the final of the 2002 British Open to win the third ranking event of his career. As the defending champion at the 2003 Masters, Hunter progressed to the semi-finals but lost 36 to Williams.

Hunter progressed past the second round of the World Championship for the first time in 2003. He defeated Ali Carter 105, Stevens 136 and defending champion Ebdon 1312 to reach the semi-finals. In the best-of-33 frames semi-final, Hunter established an overnight lead of 159 over opponent Doherty. Despite leading by six frames, he won only one of the remaining nine, and lost 1617. Years later, the BBC broadcast the highlights of the match alongside other memorable matches in place of the 2020 World Championship, which was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. Hunter's progress in the World Championship helped earn him a place in the world's top eight in the 200304 rankings for the first time in his career, having been ranked number nine for the previous two seasons.

In 2003–04, Hunter won the Masters for the third time in four years. He trailed Ronnie O'Sullivan throughout the final, with scores of 16, 27, 68, and 79, but took the remaining three frames to win 109. Hunter compiled five century breaks in the match. The 2004 Masters final was voted one of the best matches of all time by Eurosport in 2020. Hunter reached his last ranking event final at the 2004 Players Championship, but lost 79 against Jimmy White. At the 2004 Premier League Snooker event, he made the highest of his career, a 146 in a 35 loss to Marco Fu. He reached the second round of the 2004 World Championship, where he lost 1213 against Stevens, despite leading 106 and 1210.

Hunter began the 2004–05 season by reaching the semi-finals of the Grand Prix, where he lost 36 to O'Sullivan. He won the 2004 Fürth Grand Prix, a pro-am competition, defeating Stevens 42 in the final; the event was later renamed in Hunter's honour. He reached the quarter-finals of the 2005 China Open in March 2005, just days after being diagnosed with cancer. His career-high ranking was world number four during 200405, which dropped to number five the following season.

Later years and illness (2005–2006)

In April 2005, Hunter was diagnosed with malignant neuroendocrine tumours in his stomach, a rare disease, the cause of which is unknown. A spokesperson for the World 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." Hunter received chemotherapy for his illness.

Hunter returned to the circuit 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 2005 UK Championship against Jamie Burnett, in which Hunter came back from 68 down to win the match 98. Despite this, Hunter lost in the next round 29 against eventual champion Ding Junhui. He lost in the first round of the 2006 World Championship 5–10 to Neil Robertson, which was his last professional match.

Slipping from 5th to 34th in the 200607 rankings, Hunter admitted he played worse than the previous year and confirmed that he had been in continuous pain. Following a members' vote on 27 July 2006, the WPBSA announced its rules would be changed to allow Hunter to sit out the entire 2006–07 snooker season with his world ranking frozen at 34. Hunter intended to devote the year to treatment for his cancer.

Death and legacy

Hunter died on 9 October 2006, aged 27, at the Kirkwood Hospice in Huddersfield. Prior to the Premier League Snooker matches on 12 October 2006, players, referees and commentators stood for a moment of silence to remember Hunter. His funeral took place on 19 October 2006 at Leeds Parish Church. Many snooker players attended the ceremony, and his best friend, Matthew Stevens, was a pallbearer at the service.

Following his death, fellow professionals Stephen Hendry, Mark Williams, Jimmy White, Matthew Stevens and Ken Doherty led immediate calls for the Masters trophy to be named in Hunter's memory. The idea was ruled out at the time, but in 2007 the then-non-ranking Fürth German Open, a tournament first won by Hunter in 2004, was renamed the Paul Hunter Classic in his honour. The same year, the amateur English Open tournament was renamed the Paul Hunter English Open. On 20 April 2016, the World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn committed to renaming the Masters trophy in Hunter's honour, stating that the organisation had "messed up" by not doing so sooner.

Hunter was posthumously awarded the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award in 2006, and his widow Lindsey accepted the award on his behalf. A registered 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".

Noted for his "flamboyant" and "fluent" style by snooker commentator Clive Everton, Hunter was also described as being unfazed by bad luck or playing conditions by commentator Phil Yates, and Barry Hearn said that Hunter's "mercurial talent" was a "sad loss" to the sport. Over his 11-year professional career, Hunter's total prize money was £1.53 million. He compiled 114 century breaks in professional competition, including a high break of 146.

Personal life

Hunter married Lindsey Fell, a beauty therapist, in August 2004 in Jamaica. The couple had one daughter, born on 26 December 2005. After his death, Lindsey wrote the memoir ''Unbreakable: My Life with Paul – a Story of Extraordinary Courage and Love'', covering his snooker career, his personal life and his death. Hunter became known as the "Beckham of the Baize", a reference to footballer David Beckham.

Performance and rankings timeline

Career finals

Ranking finals: 5 (3 titles)

Non-ranking finals: 3 (3 titles)

Pro-am finals: 1 (1 title)

Amateur finals: 6 (4 titles)

References

Further reading

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External links

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Paul Hunter tribute in pictures
at BBC Sport

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Paul
Snooker players from Leeds
Masters (snooker) champions
People educated at Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School, Leeds

1978 births

2006 deaths

Deaths from stomach cancer in England