Paul Hunter

Last updated : 10 October 2006 By Kevin Markey

We here at LeedsUnitedMAD send out our condolences to the family and friends of Leeds snooker star Paul Hunter.

Hunter, who died at the Kirkwood Hospice in Huddersfield on Monday 9 October 2006, was a popular and talented player on the snooker circuit.

He was three times a winner of the Wembley Masters, and a World Championship semi-finalist who believed he would one day triumph at the Crucible.

He grew up in Leeds and attended the Cardinal Heenan High School, and 1986 world champion Joe Johnson was an early mentor for the talented youngster.

He turned professional in 1995 and reached the semi-finals of the Welsh Open, knocking out seven-times world champion Stephen Hendry and won the same event in 1998, his first major title at the age of 19.

The Leeds player also won the Welsh title in 2002 and picked up the British Open trophy the same year but he will be best remembered for his exploits at Wembley.

Hunter recovered from 7-3 down to beat Fergal O'Brien 10-9 in the 2001 final and fought from 5-0 adrift to beat Mark Williams 10-9 in the final a year later. He completed a hat-trick of Masters victories in 2004 when he came from 7-2 down to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-9.

Following his diagnosis of cancer in March 2005, Paul Hunter made a comeback last season but remained ill and needed to take time out from the game for chemotherapy treatment.

Before his illness, he was known as a happy-go-lucky character, a pin-up boy and he appeared as a competitor on the BBC's revived Superstars show.

Tagged the 'Beckham of the baize', when he married Lindsey Fell in the summer of 2004 the wedding photos appeared in Hello, confirming Hunter as a sportsman who transcended his chosen pursuit to achieve celebrity status.

Hunter supported the charity the NET Patient Foundation, an organisation which provides information and an online forum for cancer sufferers and their loved ones.

Thanks To BBC Leeds Sport for the above