'Paul was fun': Reflecting on the sport's taken talent a score of years on.

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

A love for the game, sparked at the tender age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his home's central table in the city of Leeds, would result in a life on the tour that saw him win six major trophies in a six-year span.

This year marks two decades since the beloved Hunter passed away from cancer, days short to his 28th birthday.

But despite the loss of a phenomenal skill that transcended the game he loved, his enduring mark on the game and those who followed his career endure as strong as ever.

'He just loved it': The Formative Years

"We could not have predicted in a lifetime our son would become a career sportsman," his mother says.

"Yet he just loved it."

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

"He was relentless," he says. "He practiced every night after school."

After repeatedly pleading with 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 miniature games with remarkable ease.

His raw skill would be nurtured by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now former establishment in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: A Star is Born

With his family's urging to do his homework often being ignored as the game dominated, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully concentrate on carving out a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within half a decade, their young son had won his maior professional trophy, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the lineup featuring exclusively the best, Hunter won on three occasions, in consecutive years.

'A Gracious Competitor': A Legacy of Character

But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature never deserted him.

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

"Upon meeting him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina adds. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "funny, kind" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his easy charm, boyish good looks and honest interview style, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the modern era.

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

Courage in Crisis: His Final Years

In that year, a year that should have been the peak of his powers, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple anecdotes from across the professional tour speak of the man's extraordinary willingness to fulfill commitments to public appearances and promotional work, all while enduring treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The World Championship arena when he played at the World Championships that year.

When he passed away in October 2006, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its most popular brothers.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

A Foundation for the Future: Giving Back

Hunter's true impact would be felt not in high society 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 aim remained for a platform to help offer a constructive activity," one organizer said.

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

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

Forever in Memory: 20 Years Later

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

"I can watch it and I can watch Paul whenever I wish," 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."

While he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's greatest prize is etched into the sport's legend.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most associated, begins later this month. The winner will lift the trophy named in his honor.

But for all his accomplishments, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is always remembered.