Snooker star Paul Hunter - biography, achievements and interesting facts

The world of professional billiards is interesting for many people. In it, as well as in other sports, there are stars and pets. This article will deal with a man named Paul Hunter - a scooter of the planetary level, which, unfortunately, has long been dead. But his biography has attracted attention to this day.

Emergence into the light and the first steps in sport

Paul Hunter was born in the United Kingdom (Yorkshire, Leeds) on October 14, 1978. From an early age the future master of cue loved to spend many hours at a pool table. Already at the age of twelve he was able to become a very successful player at the junior level.

The highest achievement that our hero achieved at the amateur level was the participation in the finals of the championship of Britain for participants under the age of 18 years, where he lost to the now legendary snooker player Steven Lee, and the first place in the tournament named Pontins Star of the Future for players Up to 16 years. Also, Hunter Paul was a two-time winner of the Leicester Junior Open.

Going professional

In the life of an Englishman and his becoming a billiard player, people like Jimmy Micchi and Joe Johnson played a significant role. It was thanks to them that in the summer of 1995 Paul Hunter became a professional snooker player.

Only four months after the beginning of his career in the professional league, the young man was able to make a real sensation in the championship of Great Britain, where he defeated Alan McManus, who was at that moment in the sixth position of the rating. The score of the meeting was 9 - 4 in favor of the young talent.

Successful band

Then came another bright triumph. In the quarterfinals of the Regal Welsh Open tournament, Hunter Paul defeated Stephen Hendry, but lost to John Parrot in the semi-final. After this, during the season, the young talent from Leeds two more times went into one sixteenth competition, which gave him the opportunity to eventually take the 78th position in the ranking list of the best snooker players in the world. Such an achievement at such a young age could boast of not every billiard player in the history of this sport.

Continuation of the struggle

Already in the next season, the Englishman was able to show all the skeptics that his last year's success was not some ridiculous accident. He managed to reach the quarterfinals of the championship of Great Britain and again rose in the ranking, having fixed already on the 43rd line.

In the 1997/98 season, Paul Hunter was among the top 16 players in the Grand Prix tournament, but after that, in his career a slight calm ensued until he arrived in the city of Newport. There, Hunter once again brilliantly performed at the Regal Welsh Open. Once again, the young snooker player improved his previous achievements. This time he was able to defeat Steve Davis, Nigel Bond, Alan McManus, Peter Ebdon. And in the finals he had to fight with John Higgins. Hunter was able to win from his opponent with a score of 9 - 5 and take his first title in snooker in the adult category. Also, the young winner received a check in the amount of 60 000 British pounds, which at that time was an impressive reward.

Star in the arena

After this triumph, our hero once again performed at the Regal Welsh Open and reached one eighth finals. As a result, he was on the 24th position of the world report card. And even despite the fact that the Englishman for the third time could not qualify for the world championship, yet his game caused respect for specialists and the love of the public. In the same year, Paul was recognized as the best young player of the season, which was largely contributed to his release in the semifinals of the prestigious tournament Liverpool Victoria UK Championship.

Continuation of career

Hunter Paul, whose biography is full of very vivid performances, first came to the World Cup in 1999. However, in the first round he lost to the future champion Stephen Hendry with the score 10: 8. According to the results of the season, the British could become the twelfth on the planet. But the game form of Paul left much to be desired. He was often criticized for not concentrating well during the game, spending too much time on diverse entertainments, not exhausting and hard training. And although the player's potential was very high, a year later he dropped to the 14th position of the rating.

Return and Victory

Obviously, Paul took into account the criticism and began to strengthen his position again. He even managed to reach the Welsh Open final, but Ken Doherty was unbeatable. Then came the semifinals of the British and Scottish tournaments, one-fourth of the finals of the Grand Prix and the Chinese tournament.

In 2001, Paul Hunter took part in a competition called Benson & Hedges Masters. In the 1/8 finals, he won against his friend Matthew Stevens. Then followed a victory with a score of 6 - 3 over Peter Ebdon in one fourth of the finals. In the semi-final, Stephen Hendry was defeated.

The final duel was very dramatic. Hunter lost to Fergal O'Brien 2 - 6, but eventually managed to make a crazy jump and eventually defeat the opponent. In addition to his title, the Englishman added the award for the highest break and went home with a prize of 185,000 pounds. The player finishes the season on the 9th line of the rating.

In 2002 Paul again won the Masters tournament. Thanks to this, he wrote his name in the history of the third after Cliff Thorburn and Stephen Hendry, who smiled luck to become twice the winner of the Masters. In the same season, the Englishman won the British Open, defeating Ian McCulloch in the final.

As a result of such performances, Paul Hunter, snooker for whom was the work of his entire life, was able to prove to everyone that he is still capable of much. The sum of his prize money at that time reached half a million pounds and ahead of him there were still great successes.

In the world championship in 2003, the British beat Alistair Carter, Matthew Stevenson and Peter Ebdon, who at that time defended his title. Paul reached the semifinals, in which Ken Doherty lost in a stubborn fight. However, this result allowed Hunter to become the fourth in the world ranking.

In the 2003/04 season, Paul was able to win the tournament only once. It happened at the Masters championship, where he was able to pass the uncompromising Ronnie O'Sullivan. At the same time the Englishman lost during the game, but still broke the resistance of the opponent in his favor. In addition, Hunter won the German Open tournament, which does not give rating points.

In 2004, Paul and his lover were married on the island of Jamaica. The popular magazine "Hello" received from the pair the exclusive right to publish their wedding photos.

Tragedy

Season 2004/2005 was a failure for the British. And this is understandable, because he learned that he had cancer. The head of the World Snooker Association, as well as the world champion acting at that time, expressed support for the sick athlete.

In late December 2005, Paul's wife Lindsay gave birth to a daughter, who was given the name of Ivy Rose. Such an event in the family life inspired the Englishman to fight the disease, and he stated that he was ready to continue treatment. He underwent a course of special chemotherapy. However, he was not destined to win this fight. October 9, 2006 Paul Hunter lost the last time, and this time the cost of defeat was his life. The athlete died, just before his 28th birthday, literally a few days.

There were such sports stars as Jimmy White, Matthew Stevens, Ronnie O'Sullivan, and others who came to the last path of the famous snuke player.

After the death of a young billiard player, his colleagues made a proposal, which was to name one tournament Masters in his honor. However, this idea was rejected by the leadership of the Association. And as a result, the memory of the athlete was honored with the renaming of the annual non-rated tournament German Open in Paul Hunter Classics.