'He brought laughter': Remembering the sport's lost great a score of years on.

Everything the young snooker player truly desired to do was compete on the baize.

A sporting bug, sparked at the age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his family's living room table in Leeds, would culminate in a pro playing days that saw him secure six significant titles in six years.

Now marks 20 years since the adored Hunter died from cancer, mere days prior to his 28th birthday.

But notwithstanding the passing of a generational talent that rose above the pastime he cherished, his enduring mark on the game and those who knew him persist as strong as ever.

'The game was his life': Early Beginnings

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

"But he just adored it."

His dad recounts how his son "cared little for anything else" other than snooker as a child.

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

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a local club to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the transition from table top snooker with aplomb.

His raw skill would be developed by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now defunct club in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Quick Success: The Path to Glory

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as the game dominated, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully dedicate himself to forging a career in the game.

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

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the lineup featuring exclusively the best, Hunter triumphed 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 deserted him.

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

"When encountering him you'd like him," Kristina continues. "He brought joy. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "witty, generous" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his natural likability, youthful appearance and honest interview style, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the modern era.

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

Courage in Crisis: His Final Years

In that year, a year that should have marked the zenith of his talent, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple stories from across the professional tour attest to the man's extraordinary willingness to honor obligations to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while going through treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a standing ovation at The famous Sheffield venue when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

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

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

A Lasting Impact: The Paul Hunter Foundation

Hunter's true impact would be felt not in royal circles 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 young people all over the country.

The scheme was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas plummeted.

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

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

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

Always Remembered: A Lasting Presence

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

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

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she adds. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be recalled."

Although he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's ultimate trophy is ingrained in the sport's history.

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

But for all his achievements, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is never forgotten.