The life and legacy of snooker hero and Masters champ Paul Hunter

All Paul Hunter ever needed to do was play snooker.

A sporting bug, caught on the age of three with the assistance of a tiny snooker set on his dad and mom’ espresso desk of their Leeds residence, would culminate in knowledgeable profession that noticed him win six main trophies in six years.

This 12 months marks 20 years for the reason that beloved Hunter died from most cancers, days in need of his twenty eighth birthday.

But regardless of the lack of a generational expertise that transcended the sport he cherished, his legacy and affect on snooker and those that knew him stay as robust as ever.

“We’d never have known in a billion years Paul would become a professional snooker player,” Hunter’s mum Kristina says.

“But he just loved it.”

Hunter’s father Alan recollects how his son “wasn’t bothered about anything else” apart from snooker as a baby.

“He never stopped,” he says. “He would play every night after school.”

After efficiently badgering his dad to take him to an area membership to play on full-size tables on the age of eight, the younger Hunter made the leap from desk prime snooker with aplomb.

His mercurial expertise could be nurtured by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now defunct membership within the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon, just a few miles from their residence.

“He used to have to stand on a box and use the rest most of the time,” recollects David Lamb, who watched the younger Hunter play each in Yeadon and later on the close by Guiseley Conservative Club.

“He showed what can be achieved if you work hard at it, because snooker is hard work. It takes hours and hours of practice just to get your cueing straight.”

Lamb’s buddy Michael Spence says his first impression of seeing the teenage Hunter play at Guiseley was that he was “unbelievable”.

“I used to watch him practising, often with his best pal Matthew Stevens,” he says.

“He was a superb player.”

With his dad and mom’ pleas to do his homework more and more falling on deaf ears as follow took precedence, Alan and Kristina took the “gamble” of taking Hunter out of faculty on the age of 14 to completely think about carving out a profession within the recreation.

It paid off in spades. Within 5 years, their still-teenage son had received his first rating title, the 1998 Welsh Open. A 12 months later, he entered the world’s prime 16, qualifying to play within the prestigious Masters occasion consequently.

Considered one in every of snooker’s hardest tournaments to win due to the presence of elite gamers solely, Hunter triumphed 3 times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

But for all his success on the desk, away from the sport Hunter’s down-to-earth charisma by no means left him. Several of these interviewed recall a “cheeky” sense of humour and a person who was at all times gracious in defeat.

“He had a great temperament did Paul,” Alan says. “He got on with everybody.

“One of the referees as soon as advised me Paul was the one participant who stated ‘please’ when he requested for the remainder. And when he handed it again he would say ‘thanks’.”

“If you met him you would like him,” Kristina adds. “Paul was enjoyable. He’d make you’re feeling comfortable.”

Hunter’s widow Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an “superb, younger cheeky lovely soul” who was “humorous, form” and “at all times the final to depart the social gathering”.

With his easy charm, boyish good looks and honest interview style, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker’s poster boy for the new 21st Century.

No wonder then, that he was christened ‘The Beckham of the Baize’.

According to Kristina, “He as soon as walked into his grandma and grandad’s home and his grandma went “Ooh ‘Beckham of the Baize'”. Paul checked out her and went “No, I’m ‘Paul'”.

“Did he like it? Yeah I don’t think he minded it, but it was very much, ‘I’m Paul’.”

In 2005, a 12 months that ought to have marked the height of his powers, Hunter was identified with most cancers and would later endure chemotherapy.

Multiple anecdotes from throughout the snooker circuit attest to the person’s extraordinary willingness to satisfy commitments to exhibitions, occasions and press interviews, all whereas going by remedy.

Cash he donated was used to purchase gentle play toys for youngsters on the Bexley Wing on the Leeds Cancer Centre, at St James’ Hospital, the place he attended his personal appointments.

Despite gruelling uncomfortable side effects, Hunter performed on by the sickness and acquired a standing ovation at The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, when he turned out for the World Championships that 12 months.

When he died, in October 2006, snooker’s close-knit fraternity misplaced one in every of its hottest brothers.

“He was given an 80% chance of living,” Kristina says. “The odds were quite good. It didn’t work out.

“It’s terrible. I would not want any mum and pa to lose a baby.

“I think the players all thought he would be OK and he would be back again. It will have been a shock for them.”

At their son’s funeral, at Leeds Parish Church, Alan recollects folks “queuing opposite the church” and lining the street past.

“We didn’t expect the turnout,” he says. “They loved him in Leeds.”

Forever The Beckham of the Baize, Hunter’s dad and mom would obtain “the biggest bunch of flowers you can imagine”, together with a letter of condolence, from Princess Zara Phillips, whom he and Alan had met at Royal Ascot some years earlier.

It’s exhausting to think about many different snooker gamers previous or current transcending the game to the extent of rubbing shoulders with royalty.

However, Hunter’s true legacy could be felt not in palaces and castles, however in snooker halls and golf equipment throughout the UK.

The Paul Hunter Foundation, arrange earlier than his demise with the assistance of spouse Lindsey and late supervisor Brandon Parker, would offer free snooker classes to kids all around the nation.

Chris Lovell, who’s the World Pool, Billiards and Snooker’s Association’s (WPBSA’s) head of teaching and coaching growth supervisor, helped ship lots of the classes, which targeted on etiquette and conduct, in addition to desk abilities.

He says the scheme was so profitable that, in response to police within the Lancashire city of Accrington, the native youth crime fee plummeted.

“The idea was for a platform to help get kids off the street,” Mr Lovell says.

“Snooker’s always been a game that’s opened itself up, respected its fans and believed in the grassroots. We were able to do things we wouldn’t normally have been able to do because we were doing it in Paul’s memory.

“It was such an honour and you’re feeling very humble about it.”

The Foundation would help lay the groundwork of a huge WPBSA coaching programme, which has extended playing opportunities to children all over the world over the last 15 years.

The organisation says the women’s game and disability snooker are among the branches of the sport that have particularly benefited.

“Paul would have cherished what we have completed with the game and the place it’s in the present day,” WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson says.

“When he was taking part in, it was six, seven or eight occasions [a year] most. Now it is 20 occasions all around the world. He would have embraced this a lot.”

Lindsey says she and Evie are “extraordinarily happy with Paul’s legacy and what his charity has given to so many younger and up and coming” gamers.

Classic footage of their son’s matches on YouTube help Kristina and Alan stay “near him”.

“I can convey it up and I can watch Paul anytime,” Kristina says. “It’s marvellous!

“I can see him, walking and moving about.

“Some folks do not need to discuss [when they’re grieving], however we do not thoughts speaking about Paul. Before it will be tears, however I’d moderately any person discuss than him not be talked about in any respect.

“We’ve got [Paul’s sister] Leanne, we’ve got grandchildren and you just take each day as it comes. I can’t believe it’s been nearly 20 years.”

Alan provides: “I could talk about Paul 24/7. I’m proud to.”

Although he by no means received the World Championship, the extremely possible notion that Hunter would have gone on to carry snooker’s best prize in Sheffield is etched into the game’s folklore.

The Masters, the competitors with which he’s most synonymous, begins at Alexandra Palace in north London later this month. The winner will carry the Paul Hunter Trophy.

But for all his achievements, twenty years after his demise it’s Paul Hunter’s character, as a lot his dazzling snooker potential, that may guarantee he’s by no means forgotten.