He was a three-time Masters champion, winning the event in 2001, 2002, and 2004; on all three occasions, he recovered from a deficit in the final to claim the title on a deciding frame.

Paul Alan Hunter was born on 14 October 1978 in Leeds,[2][3] England, where he attended the Cardinal Heenan High School.

[3] After leaving school at 14 to spend more time playing snooker,[5][6] he often travelled to Bradford to practise alongside professional players such as Joe Johnson.

[8] Aged 17, he reached the semi-finals of the 1996 Welsh Open, the youngest player to appear at this stage of a ranking event,[3] by defeating the world champion Stephen Hendry in the last 16.

[9] He also reached the quarter-finals of the 1996 UK Championship, where he completed a whitewash of Willie Thorne 9‍–‍0, and bested James Wattana 9‍–‍5 and Terry Murphy 9‍–‍7, before losing 5‍–‍9 against Hendry, the eventual winner of the event.

[10] Due in part to this performance, Hunter was awarded a wildcard to play at the 1997 Masters,[11] where he lost 1‍–‍5 against Mark Williams in the first round.

[2][13][14] The following year, Hunter won his first ranking tournament at the 1998 Welsh Open; after eliminating 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, he defeated John Higgins 9‍–‍5 in the final.

At the 2001 Masters, he eliminated the defending champion Matthew Stevens 6‍–‍5 in the first round, Peter Ebdon 6‍–‍3 in the quarter-finals, and Stephen Hendry 6‍–‍4 in the semi-finals.

[27][28] After winning the Masters title, Hunter claimed that he and his fiancée had had sex during the mid-session interval when he was trailing 2‍–‍6, which had caused him to play significantly better.

[2][6] At the following year's Masters, he defeated Stephen Lee 6‍–‍3, Ebdon 6‍–‍5 and Alan McManus 6‍–‍5 to reach the final, where he met Mark Williams.

[46] He won the 2004 Fürth Grand Prix, a pro-am competition, defeating Stevens 4‍–‍2 in the final; the event was later renamed in Hunter's honour.

[51] A spokesperson for the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) said at the time: "Paul will undergo treatment to cure himself of this illness.

[58] Following a members' vote on 27 July 2006, the WPBSA announced its rules would be changed to allow Hunter to sit out the entire 2006–07 snooker season with his world ranking frozen at 34.

[49][19] Prior to the Premier League Snooker matches on 12 October 2006, players, referees and commentators stood for a moment of silence to remember Hunter.

[60] Following his death, fellow professionals Stephen Hendry, Mark Williams, Jimmy White, Matthew Stevens and Ken Doherty led immediate calls for the Masters trophy to be named in Hunter's memory.

[65] On 20 April 2016, the World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn committed to renaming the Masters trophy in Hunter's honour, stating that the organisation had "messed up" by not doing so sooner.

[67] A registered charity called The Paul Hunter Foundation was set up after his death with the "specific aim of giving disadvantaged, able bodied and disabled youngsters an opportunity to play snooker".