He 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. Hunter became one of the youngest players ever to reach the last four of a major ranking event when appearing as a semi-finalist in the 1996 Welsh Open, aged 17. His first ranking tournament victory was the Regal Welsh Open which he won in 1998. In the 2001 he won the Benson & Hedges Masters. He won the same tournament again in 2002 and 2004.He made further ranking victories that year, winning the British Open and the Regal Welsh for a second time, but was diagnosed with testicular cancer and had to have a cyst removed. He continued to rise through the rankings, reaching the top eight for the first time in the 2003 rankings, and the top 4 in the 2004 rankings. Hunter and Lyndsey Fell married in the summer of 2004 in Jamaica. On 26 December 2005, Lyndsey gave birth to their first and only child, daughter Evie Rose, who weighed 8 lbs, 2 oz. On 6 April 2005, Hunter announced that he was suffering from malignant neuroendocrine tumours, a rare form of stomach cancer. A spokesman for the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association said at the time: "Paul will undergo treatment to cure himself of this illness. He would like to reassure his fans and supporters that, as with his snooker career, he is tenacious and positive in his fight against the disease." Hunter, a smoker, had been receiving chemotherapy for his illness and had been struggling to find form since beginning treatment. He dropped out of the World's top 32 in the rankings after losing 10-5 to Neil Robertson at the World Championship, although the BBC commentators felt he had been unlucky in two of the frames he lost. It is believed that Hunter's treatment was of limited success and that he was often in some pain. Hunter died on October 9, 2006 - just five days short of his 28th birthday - at the Kirkwood Hospice in Huddersfield.  Not many sportsmen are universally popular with their peers as well as the fans, but Hunter was as close as snooker got, which was all the more remarkable given the way he was marketed, as the "Beckham of the baize".