'Paul was fun': Remembering the game's taken talent 20 years on.

Everything the young snooker player always wished to do was practice the game.

A competitive passion, developed at the age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his parents' coffee table in the city of Leeds, would result in a life on the tour that saw him claim half a dozen major wins in half a dozen years.

This year marks 20 years since the popular Hunter died from cancer, mere days prior to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But in spite of the passing of a phenomenal skill that transcended the game he loved, his legacy and impact on the sport and those who knew him endure as strong as ever.

'The game was his life': The Formative Years

"We could not have predicted in a million years Paul would become a professional snooker player," Hunter's mum says.

"Yet he just loved it."

His dad recalls how his son "showed no interest in anything else" other than snooker as a young boy.

"His dedication was constant," he says. "He competed every night after school."

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a community venue to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the leap from miniature games with remarkable ease.

His raw skill would be developed by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now former establishment in the area of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: A Star is Born

With his parents' pleas to do his homework regularly going unheeded as practice took priority, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully concentrate on building a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within a short period, their young son had won his maior professional trophy, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the presence of only the top competitors, Hunter won three times, in consecutive years.

'Paul was fun': A Legacy of Character

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

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

"When encountering him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina continues. "He brought joy. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "humorous, caring" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his easy charm, boyish good looks and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the modern era.

No wonder then, that he was nicknamed 'The Beckham of the Baize'.

Facing Adversity: Illness and Resilience

In that year, a year that should have signaled the peak of his powers, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple anecdotes from across the sporting world attest to the man's extraordinary willingness to fulfill commitments to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while going through treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter played on through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The Crucible Theatre when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he passed away in the mid-2000s, snooker's tight community lost one of its most popular brothers.

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to go through that pain."

A Lasting Impact: Giving Back

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in royal circles but in community venues across the UK.

The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide accessible training to youths all over the country.

The initiative was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas dropped significantly.

"The goal was for a program to help get kids off the street," one official said.

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a huge coaching programme, which has opened up playing opportunities to children internationally.

"It would have thrilled him what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a chairman in the sport stated.

Never Forgotten: A Lasting Presence

Classic footage of their son's matches online help his parents stay "in touch with his memory".

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

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she adds. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be spoken of."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's top honor is ingrained in the sport's history.

The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, commences later this month. The winner will lift the memorial cup.

But for all his successes, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is always remembered.