Paul Hunter

Infobox Snooker player
Name = Paul Hunter


Caption =
Born = birth date|1978|10|14
Birthplace = Leeds
Died = death date and age|2006|10|9|1978|10|14
Deathplace = Huddersfield
Nationality = Flagicon|England English
Nickname = Beckham of the Baize,
The Man with the Golden Cue
Professional = 1995–2006
High ranking = #4 (2004/05)
Prize money = £1,525,050 [http://www.worldsnooker.com/players_head_to_head-8184.htm World Snooker profile] ]
High break = 146 (2004, Premier League)Clarifyme|date=July 2007
Best finish =
Ranking wins = 3
Other wins = 3
World champ =

Paul Alan Hunter (14 October 1978 – 9 October 2006) was an English professional snooker player. His media profile developed swiftly and he became known as the 'Beckham of the Baize' for his glamorous image.

Early career

Hunter was educated at St Andrews Primary School and Cardinal Heenan High School in Leeds. With some encouragement from friends and family, he spent many hours practicing snooker, and by the age of 12 had become an outstanding junior talent. With the help of former professional snooker players Jimmy Michie and Joe Johnson, the youngster from Leeds made his debut among the professionals in July 1995 at the age of 16.

Four months later, Hunter caused a major sensation at the UK Championship by beating world number six Alan McManus 9-4 in the first round. He followed up that achievement by becoming the youngest player to reach the last four of a ranking event when he reached the semi-finals of the 1996 Regal Welsh Open at the age of just 17 and three months.

Also in 1996, 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 before bowing out 9-5 to eventual champion Stephen Hendry. Hunter's achievements earned him high accolades throughout the game and was awarded a wildcard to play at the 1997 Benson & Hedges Masters. Although he was beaten 5-1 by Mark Williams in the first round, it was to be the start of a great love affair that he would have with Wembley.

Ranking title

His first ranking tournament victory came at the 1998 Regal Welsh Open, where he defeated no fewer than seven players to lift the title and claim the £60,000 winner's cheque. Paul Wykes (5-3), Neal Foulds (5-2), Steve Davis (5-3), Nigel Bond (5-4), Alan McManus (5-3) and Peter Ebdon (6-1) all fell at the hands of the 19-year-old, before he overcame World Champion to be John Higgins 9-5 in the final. During the final, Hunter made three Cuegloss|Century|century Cuegloss|Break|breaks (108, 116 and 127). He was 2-4 down at one time, but won seven of the last eight frames to clinch the title. He followed up that success by reaching the semi-finals of the 1998 Liverpool Victoria UK Championship in Bournemouth and was named the Snooker Writers Association's Young Player of the Year for that year.

Hunter's first appearance at the Crucible came in 1999 World Championship, where he lost 8-10 in the first round to the eventual champion Stephen Hendry. His form that season elevated him to no. 12 in the 1999/2000 world rankings resulting in automatic qualification into the final stages of ranking tournaments for the first time.

After a below-par 1999/2000 campaign, demoting him to no. 14 in the 2000/2001 world rankings, he announced his arrival as a genuine force at the top of the professional game by reaching the quarter-final stage or better in six tournaments the following season. He was a runner-up at the Welsh Open, a semi-finalist at the British Open and Scottish Open and a quarter-finalist at the Grand Prix and China Open - but he saved his best form for the 2001 Masters.

Masters champion

In the 2001 Benson & Hedges Masters, Hunter beat his close friend and defending champion Matthew Stevens 6-5 in the last 16, Peter Ebdon 6-3 in the quarter-finals and Stephen Hendry 6-4 in the semi-finals before recovering from a 7-3 deficit against Fergal O'Brien to win the final 10-9. The match turned on the pivotal eleventh frame, where Hunter looked like trailing 8-3 but recovered to reduce his deficit to 7-4, before knocking in four centuries in six frames on his way to a famous 10-9 victory. [http://sport.guardian.co.uk/snooker/story/0,10158,1190031,00.html Interview in The Guardian] ]

Twelve months on in 2002, he retained his title but it didn't get any less exciting along the way. After a relatively straight-forward 6-3 victory at the round of 16 stage over Stephen Lee, Hunter triumphed in final frame shoot-outs against Peter Ebdon in the last eight, Alan McManus in the semi-finals and most memorably coming from 5-0 down to beat Mark Williams 10-9 in the final. In doing so, he became only the third player in history to retain the Masters trophy.

It represented a fantastic start to the year for Hunter, who only two weeks earlier had lifted his second Regal Welsh Open title, gaining revenge over the man who beat him 9-2 in the previous year's final, Ken Doherty. Two months on, he was defeated in the first round at the Crucible for the third time in four years but nothing could deny the 23-year-old of a trophy-filled 2002.

His success was to continue at the 2002 British Open, staged in Telford, where he captured his third ranking title by beating Ian McCulloch 9-4 in the final. A third successive Masters title, however, was a bridge too far for him in 2003, as he bowed out 6-3 in the semi-finals to the previous year's runner-up and eventual champion Mark Williams. His greatest success that campaign, though, was only a few months away.

Crucible breakthrough

After his best ever season, in which he had been a contender in virtually every tournament he played, it was time for the Yorkshireman to perform in the biggest tournament of all, and that he most certainly did. In the 2003 Embassy World Championship, he beat Allister Carter 10-5, Matthew Stevens 13-6 and defending champion Peter Ebdon 13-12 in an epic encounter to reach the semi-finals.

In the last four, he established a 15-9 overnight lead over Ken Doherty by playing some of the best snooker of the tournament. It was only an inspired Doherty comeback, winning eight of the remaining nine frames, that would deny him a place in his first Crucible final. The 2002/2003 campaign was still his most consistent, winning one title, reaching a further four semi-finals and three quarter-finals. It earned him 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 2003/2004, his biggest achievement of another successful season was winning the Masters, for the third time in four years, yet again by a 10-9 scoreline. The 2004 final was arguably the most dramatic of all his Masters triumphs, trailing Ronnie O'Sullivan throughout the entire match before pipping him to the trophy in the final frame. In fact, Hunter trailed 2-0, 6-1, 7-2, 8-6 and 9-7 before reeling off the final three frames to seal the sixth title of his professional career. He made five century breaks in the match - over five million viewers on BBC Sport watched him on live TV (in the UK) beat Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-9.

The great sportsman

Not even Hunter could deny Jimmy White a first ranking title in nearly 12 years at the 2004 Daily Record Players Championship, although it looked as if one of his trademark comebacks was on the cards. Trailing fellow crowd-favourite White 8-5, he reduced his deficit to 8-7 before White sealed victory in the next frame. It may not have been a victory for Hunter on the table, but the genuine humility and affection he showed his boyhood hero after the match underlined his impeccable sportsmanship, which he afforded all his opponents on and off the table throughout his career.

His season ended at the hands of reigning UK Champion, Matthew Stevens in the second round at the 2004 Embassy World Championship, losing an epic 13-12 after surrendering leads of 10-6 and 12-10. Hunter had chances to clinch the match in each of the final three frames but was on the wrong end of a Crucible comeback for the second successive year. He was, nevertheless, magnanimous in defeat once again as he embraced his close friend after the match.

Hunter was quick out of the blocks the following season, reaching the semi-finals of the 2004 Totesport Grand Prix and losing 6-3 to Ronnie O'Sullivan, but it was to be the last time that the Yorkshireman would reach that stage in a ranking event. He did, however, reach the last eight of the China Open in March-April 2005, 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 in 2005/2006.

Personal life

Hunter and Lindsey Fell, a beauty therapist, married in the summer of 2004 in Jamaica. On 26 December 2005, Lindsey gave birth to their first and only child, daughter Evie Rose, who weighed convert|6|lb|5|oz|kg|abbr=on

Illness

On 6 April 2005, Hunter announced that he was suffering from malignant neuroendocrine tumours , for which the causes are unknown. A spokesman for the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association 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."Cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/sport/2005/0406/hunter.html|title=Hunter diagnosed with cancer|accessyear=2007|accessmonthday=April 13|publisher=RTÉ Sport|year=2005]

He returned to the circuit for the start of the following season, but lost to Rory McLeod in the opening round of the Grand Prix tournament, having only returned to practice 2 weeks earlier, and not confirming his participation until three days before the match.

Hunter had been receiving chemotherapy for his illness and had been struggling to find snooker form since beginning treatment. He was only to win 1 match during the 2005/2006 season, against Jamie Burnett in the UK Championship, in which Hunter dramatically came from 6-8 down to triumph 9-8 in a match that lasted 6 hours 26 minutes.web|url=http://www.worldsnooker.com/news_latest-17584.htm|Brave Hunter Wins Late Thriller|accessmonthday=December 7|publisher=World Snooker=2005