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

All Paul Hunter truly desired to do was play snooker.

A sporting bug, sparked at the age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his family's living room table in the city of Leeds, would culminate in a life on the tour that saw him win six major trophies in six years.

The present year marks two decades since the beloved Hunter succumbed to cancer, mere days prior to his 28th birthday.

But despite the loss of a phenomenal skill that rose above the sport he adored, his legacy and impact on the game and those who were close to him remain as vibrant now.

'The game was his life': Early Beginnings

"We'd never have known in a million years our son would become a pro on the circuit," his mother recalls.

"However he just was passionate about it."

Hunter's father recalls how his son "cared little for anything else" except for snooker as a child.

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

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the jump from miniature games with remarkable ease.

His mercurial talent would be coached by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now defunct club in the area of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: A Star is Born

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework often being ignored as practice took priority, 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 proved a masterstroke. Within half a decade, their young son had won his first ranking title, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the lineup featuring exclusively the best, Hunter was victorious three times, in consecutive years.

'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.

"His demeanor was excellent did Paul," Alan says. "He got on with everybody."

"When encountering him you'd take to him," Kristina adds. "Paul was fun. He'd make you relaxed."

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

With his natural likability, boyish good looks and candid way with the press, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new 21st Century.

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

A Brave Battle: Illness and Resilience

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have signaled the peak of his powers, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

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

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter kept playing 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 the mid-2000s, snooker's tight community lost one of its best-loved members.

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

A Lasting Impact: Inspiring Youth

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 accessible training to children all over the country.

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

"The goal was for a scheme to help provide a positive outlet," one organizer said.

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

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

Forever in Memory: Two Decades On

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

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

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she continues. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be spoken of."

While he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have secured snooker's greatest prize is etched into the sport's history.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most associated, 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 personality, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is always remembered.