'Paul was fun': Remembering snooker's lost great two decades on.

Everything the Leeds-born talent truly desired to do was practice the game.

A love for the game, developed at the age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his home's central table in his Leeds home, would result in a life on the tour that saw him win six major trophies in half a dozen years.

Now marks a score of years since the beloved Hunter died from cancer, mere days prior to his 28th birthday.

But notwithstanding the tragic departure of a generational talent that transcended the pastime he cherished, his enduring mark on the game and those who were close to him endure as vibrant now.

'He just loved it': Early Beginnings

"It was impossible to foresee in a billion years our son would become a professional snooker player," his mother recalls.

"Yet he just was passionate about it."

His dad remembers how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" besides snooker as a youth.

"He was relentless," he adds. "He competed 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 budding player made the jump from table top snooker with aplomb.

His raw skill would be developed by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now closed venue in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: A Star is Born

With his family's urging to do his homework often being ignored as training came first, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully concentrate on forging a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within five years, their adolescent had won his maior professional trophy, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the involvement of exclusively the best, Hunter won a trio of times, in consecutive years.

'A Cheeky Charm': A Legacy of Character

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

"He was incredibly composed did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

"If you met him you'd like him," Kristina continues. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "humorous, caring" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his natural likability, youthful appearance and honest interview style, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new 21st Century.

No wonder then, that he was dubbed 'A Sporting Icon'.

Facing Adversity: A Fight Against Cancer

In that year, a year that should have been the zenith of his talent, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple anecdotes from across the sporting world attest to the man's extraordinary willingness to fulfill commitments to public appearances and promotional work, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The World Championship arena when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he died in autumn 2006, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its most popular brothers.

"It's awful," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to go through that pain."

A Foundation for the Future: Giving Back

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in palaces and castles but in community venues across the UK.

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

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

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

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a major coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children all over the world.

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

Forever in Memory: 20 Years Later

Archive videos of their son's matches online help his parents stay "close to him".

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

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she concludes. "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 common opinion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's ultimate trophy is a part of the sport's history.

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

But for all his successes, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.