'Paul was fun': Reflecting on the game's lost great two decades on.

Everything the Leeds-born talent truly desired to do was compete on the baize.

A sporting bug, caught at the tender age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his family's living room table in the city of Leeds, would lead to a professional career that saw him secure half a dozen major wins in half a dozen years.

Now marks 20 years since the beloved Hunter succumbed to cancer, mere days prior to his 28th birthday.

But notwithstanding the passing of a phenomenal skill that transcended the game he loved, his legacy and impact on the game and those who knew him persist as powerful today.

'The game was his life': Early Beginnings

"We could not have predicted in a million years our son would become a pro on the circuit," Kristina Hunter recalls.

"But he just was passionate about it."

Hunter's father recounts how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" other than snooker as a young boy.

"He never stopped," he says. "He competed every night after school."

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

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

Metoric Ascent: From Teenager to Champion

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework often being ignored as training came first, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully focus on carving out a career in the game.

It was a resounding success. Within five years, their young son had won his maior professional trophy, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the presence of exclusively the best, Hunter triumphed three times, in the early 2000s.

'A Cheeky Charm': His Enduring Personality

But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's humble charm never left him.

"His demeanor was excellent did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

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

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "humorous, caring" 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 pin-up for the new 21st Century.

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

A Brave Battle: A Fight Against Cancer

In 2005, a year that should have signaled the peak of his powers, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

Multiple stories from across the sporting world highlight the man's extraordinary commitment to honor obligations to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while enduring treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The famous Sheffield venue when he competed in the World Championships that year.

When he died in October 2006, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its cherished personalities.

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to lose a child."

An Enduring Legacy: The Paul Hunter Foundation

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

The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions to youths all over the country.

The program was so successful that, according to reports, anti-social behavior in some areas fell sharply.

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

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

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

Always Remembered: 20 Years Later

Archive videos of their son's matches on YouTube help his parents stay "connected to him".

"I can watch it and I can watch Paul at any moment," Kristina says. "It's a comfort!"

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she concludes. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be spoken of."

While he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have secured snooker's greatest prize is a part of the sport's history.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most associated, begins later this month. The winner will lift the Paul Hunter Trophy.

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