Should "The Masters" offer "The Paul Hunter Award"?

Paul Alan Hunter (14 October 1978 – 9 October 2006) was an English professional snooker player. Paul was educated at Cardinal Heenan High School in Leeds. Encouraged by family and friends, Hunter spent many hours at the practice table, and by the age of 12, had become an outstanding junior talent. Under the careful guidance of experienced professionals Jimmy Michie and former World Champion Joe Johnson, the Leeds youngster made his debut amongst the professional ranks 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 mere age of 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. His first ranking tournament victory came at the 1998 Regal Welsh Open, where he defeated no fewer than seven players to lift the title. Paul Wykes, Neal Foulds, Steve Davis, Nigel Bond, Alan McManus and Peter Ebdon all fell at the hands of the 19-year-old, before he overcame World Champion-elect John Higgins 9-5 in the final. 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, where he lost 10-8 in the first round to the eventual champion Stephen Hendry. His form that season elevated him to number 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 number 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 of six tournaments the following season. He was a runner-up at the Regal Welsh Open, a semi-finalist at the British Open and Regal Scottish Open and a quarter-finalist at the Grand Prix and China Open - but he saved his best form for the Benson & Hedges Masters. 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. Twelve months on and 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. 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 10-9. The 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 that match as well, whereas Ronnie did not make a single one.

i believe so.. as i know.. i think he sufered from cancer, besides he was a real talent... i enjoyed watching him play

Yes the guyz are right..But as I said in the your previous topic about snooker (i enjoy pool and snooker too-i usually play 3-4 times a week pool-I have some snooker games when I come to Bucharest).Too pitty for the snooker world loosin' such a talented player as Paul was.If the Snooker Association keep their word by receiving a simbolic sum of 50$ for each break over 50+ then this game surely deserves the name of the Fair Play statut.Have a nice day mate!

I think what they've done instead, with every break of 50+ £50 is put into a fund to help train new snooker players. One day one of these new players trained with saga money may win the world championships, that's a very good tribute in my opinion.