Paul Hunter - Death and Legacy

Death and Legacy

Hunter died at 8:20pm on 9 October 2006 – just five days short of his 28th birthday – at the Kirkwood Hospice in Huddersfield. Prior to the Premier League Snooker matches on 12 October 2006, players Jimmy White, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Ken Doherty and Ding Junhui, along with referee Alan Chamberlain and commentators Willie Thorne and Phil Yates, all stood for a moment of silence to remember Hunter. His funeral took place on 19 October 2006 at Leeds Parish Church. Many players attended the ceremony, and his best friend, Matthew Stevens, was a coffin-bearer at the service.

Fellow professionals Stephen Hendry, Mark Williams, Jimmy White, Matthew Stevens and Ken Doherty have led calls for The Masters trophy to be named in Hunter's memory. Instead, the non-ranking, and now minor-ranking tournament, Fürth German Open was renamed the Paul Hunter Classic in his honour; a tournament first won by Paul Hunter. In 2006 Hunter was posthumously awarded the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award – his widow Lindsey accepted the award on his behalf. The Paul Hunter Foundation was set up after his death to give disadvantaged children places to play sport and socialise.