'Paul was fun': Reflecting on the sport's lost great a score of years on.

Everything the Leeds-born talent always wished to do was play snooker.

A love for the game, sparked at the tender age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his family's living room table in Leeds, would culminate in a life on the tour that saw him win six significant titles in half a dozen years.

The present year marks 20 years since the adored Hunter died from cancer, days short to his 28th birthday.

But despite the loss of a generational talent that transcended the pastime he cherished, his enduring mark on snooker and those who followed his career endure as vibrant now.

'He just loved it': A Childhood Obsession

"We could not have predicted in a million years Paul would become a career sportsman," Kristina Hunter states.

"However he just was passionate about it."

His dad recounts how his son "cared little for anything else" besides snooker as a young boy.

"His dedication was constant," he notes. "He would play every night after school."

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a community venue to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the jump from home play with great skill.

His mercurial talent would be coached by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now former establishment in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Quick Success: A Star is Born

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework regularly going unheeded as practice took priority, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully dedicate himself to forging a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within a short period, their still-teenage son had won his maior professional trophy, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the involvement of only the top competitors, Hunter won a trio of times, in the early 2000s.

'A Gracious Competitor': His Enduring Personality

But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's humble charm never left him.

"He was incredibly composed did Paul," Alan says. "He connected with everybody."

"When encountering him you'd take to him," Kristina states. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "funny, kind" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his effortless appeal, youthful appearance and honest interview style, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new 21st Century.

No wonder then, that he was christened 'The Snooker World's Beckham'.

Courage in Crisis: Illness and Resilience

In that year, a year that should have been the height of his career, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple stories from across the sporting world highlight the man's extraordinary dedication to honor obligations to public appearances and promotional work, all while going through treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The World Championship arena when he competed in the World Championships that year.

When he passed away in autumn 2006, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its best-loved members.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

A Foundation for the Future: The Paul Hunter Foundation

Hunter's true contribution would be felt not in palaces and castles but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK.

The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to young people all over the country.

The initiative was so successful that, according to reports, anti-social behavior in some areas dropped significantly.

"The aim remained for a scheme to help provide a positive outlet," one coach said.

The Foundation helped pave the way for a huge coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children internationally.

"He would have embraced what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a senior official in the sport stated.

Forever in Memory: A Lasting Presence

Historic matches of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "close to him".

"I can access it and I can watch Paul anytime," Kristina says. "It's a comfort!"

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she adds. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be mentioned at all."

Although he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's ultimate trophy is a part of the sport's folklore.

The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, starts later this month. The winner will lift the Paul Hunter Trophy.

But for all his achievements, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.