Fans want Masters tournament renamed

Paul Hunter died tragically to cancer in 2006FANS of the growing cue sport snooker are voicing their frustrations over the World Professional And Billiard Snooker Association's (WPBSA) dithering about whether to name the Masters tournament after the late Paul Hunter, (pictured) who tragically died a couple of years ago to cancer.

Brave Hunter first won the tournament in 2001, based at London's Wembley Arena, and is the second most prestigious tournament of the year, to the World Championships, held in April - while the Masters is in January.

The tournament is an invitational event to all the top 16 snooker players, with only handful of wildcards allowed to enter through qualifying.

Hunter won it again in 2002, and in 2004 had made a marathon comeback against the Rocket Ronnie O'Sullivan, winning it in a deciding final frame clincher.

One fan, who has created a group on the Social Networking site FACEBOOK, named: The Masters Trophy should be named The Paul Hunter Masters, said: " He was truely a great character of the game. And will remain in our hearts for ever. Rest in Peace Paul."

Over 70 members have signed up to the group so far.

The furore about naming a tournament after Hunter comes as the WPBSA already have a Paul Hunter scholarship programme designed to reward gifted talented young players.

The 27-year-old Leeds player left a young family in a daughter Evie Rose, now 3, when he was struck down by the disease in 2006.

Snooker continues to face uncertainty as last week it was revealed that key sponsors, including 888.com who sponsor the World Championships at the Crucible Theatre, were quitting a five year deal.

*See http://www.the-latest.com/snooker-in-turmoil-after-sponsors-quit for the full story.

Bookmark/Search this post with:

delicious | digg | reddit | newsvine | furl | google | yahoo | technorati | icerocket