'Paul was fun': Reflecting on snooker's departed star two decades on.

Everything the young snooker player always wished to do was practice the game.

A love for the game, developed at the very young age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his family's living room table in the city of Leeds, would culminate in a professional career that saw him secure six significant titles in a six-year span.

This year marks 20 years since the popular Hunter succumbed to cancer, just days before to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But in spite of the loss of a generational talent that transcended the pastime he cherished, his enduring mark on snooker and those who followed his career remain as strong as ever.

'He just loved it': A Childhood Obsession

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

"However he just was passionate about it."

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

"His dedication was constant," he adds. "He practiced 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 leap from table top snooker with remarkable ease.

His natural ability would be developed by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now former establishment in the area of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: From Teenager to Champion

With his parents' pleas to do his homework regularly going unheeded as training came first, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully concentrate on building a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within five years, their young son had won his first ranking title, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the presence of elite players only, Hunter was victorious a trio of times, in the early 2000s.

'A Cheeky Charm': The Man Behind the Cue

But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never deserted him.

"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

"If you met him you'd take to him," Kristina adds. "He brought joy. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "witty, generous" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his effortless appeal, youthful appearance and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new 21st Century.

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

A Brave Battle: A Fight Against Cancer

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have been the zenith of his talent, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

Multiple stories from across the professional tour highlight the man's extraordinary dedication to keep promises to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while going through treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a standing ovation at The World Championship arena when he played at the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in the mid-2000s, snooker's tight community lost one of its most popular brothers.

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

A Lasting Impact: The Paul Hunter Foundation

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in high society but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK.

The Paul Hunter Foundation, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to youths all over the country.

The program was so successful that, according to reports, issues with young people in some areas dropped significantly.

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

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

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

Never Forgotten: 20 Years Later

Historic matches of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "close to him".

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

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she concludes. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be mentioned at all."

While he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have secured snooker's top honor is a part of the sport's folklore.

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

But for all his successes, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is always remembered.