World ranking: 9
Last five seasons: 14-12-24-43-78
Date of birth: 14-10-78
Lives: Leeds, West Yorkshire
Turned professional: 1995
Ranking tournament victories: 1 - Regal Welsh 1998
Last season's prize money: £297,150
Career prize money (up to start of 2001-2002 season): £552,350
Highest tournament break: 139 - Thailand Classic 1995

Paul Hunter climbed a further five places on the Embassy World Rankings during the 2000-2001 season but the undoubted highlight came in an invitation event - the Benson and Hedges Masters at Wembley Conference Centre.

Hunter beat Matthew Stevens 6-5, Peter Ebdon 6-3 and Stephen Hendry 6-4, then came from 7-3 down to defeat Fergal O'Brien 10-9 in an absorbing final to pocket a £175,000 first prize.

The match, which did not finish until some 30 minutes after midnight, kept more than four million television viewers on the edge of their seats and Hunter admitted: "I've never been as nervous as I was towards the end.

"It was a tremendous finish and obviously I feel sorry for Fergal. I think we'll both remember this for a long time, but I'll have better memories of it than he will. It could have gone either way."

Hunter began the season by reaching the semi-finals of the British Open, losing 6-2 to Jimmy White, and maintained his excellent record in the Regal Welsh, reaching the final before going down 9-2 to Ken Doherty.

A Regal Welsh semi-finalist at the age of 17, he returned to the Newport Centre at 19 to win his first world ranking title.

When Hunter lost 9-5 to Stephen Hendry after leading 5-3 in their quarter-final of the 1996 UK Championship, the Scot forecast: "He's got the game and he's got the bottle."

So it proved as the young Yorkshireman came from 3-0 down in his opening match against Paul Wykes to win 5-3 and then proceeded to beat top-16 players Steve Davis, Nigel Bond, Alan McManus, Peter Ebdon and - in the final - John Higgins.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I think something like this would happen so soon in my career," he said afterwards. "My dad always said I'd have my day but this has been my week; it's unbelievable."

Victory was worth £60,000 but, more importantly, it established Hunter as one of the game's brightest talents.

That talent came to its full fruition last season and although the campaign ended on a low note when he lost 13-5 to Hendry in the second round of the Embassy World Championship, Hunter said: "I've had a great season and I'm learning all the time."