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

All the young snooker player always wished to do was compete on the baize.

A competitive passion, caught at the age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his family's living room table in the city of Leeds, would result in a pro playing days that saw him secure six major trophies in six years.

The present year marks 20 years since the adored Hunter died from cancer, days short to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But notwithstanding the passing of a generational talent that went beyond the game he loved, his legacy and impact on snooker and those who were close to him remain as strong as ever.

'He just loved it': The Formative Years

"We'd never have known in a lifetime the boy would become a professional snooker player," Kristina Hunter says.

"However he just adored it."

Alan Hunter recounts how his son "showed no interest in anything else" except for snooker as a child.

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

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a community venue to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the jump from home play with great skill.

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

Rapid Rise: The Path to Glory

With his family's urging to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as training came first, 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 paid off in spades. Within five years, their still-teenage son had won his maior professional trophy, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the lineup featuring exclusively the best, Hunter triumphed a trio of times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'A Gracious Competitor': A Legacy of Character

But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature never left him.

"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He connected with everybody."

"When encountering him you'd take to him," Kristina continues. "He brought joy. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "humorous, caring" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his natural likability, handsome features and candid way with the press, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the modern era.

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

A Brave Battle: A Fight Against Cancer

In that year, a year that should have been the height of his career, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

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

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter played on through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The Crucible Theatre when he competed in the World Championships that year.

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

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

A Lasting Impact: The Paul Hunter Foundation

Hunter's true contribution would be felt not in high society but in community venues across the UK.

The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to young people all over the country.

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

"The idea was for a platform to help provide a positive outlet," one coach said.

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a major coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children globally.

"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: Two Decades On

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

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

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she adds. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be recalled."

Although he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have secured snooker's greatest prize is etched into the sport's legend.

The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, starts 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 spirit, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is never forgotten.