'He was a joy': Remembering snooker's departed star 20 years on.

Everything the Leeds-born talent always wished to do was practice the game.

A sporting bug, sparked at the very young age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his parents' coffee table in his Leeds home, would culminate in a pro playing days that saw him secure six major trophies in six years.

This year marks two decades since the beloved Hunter died from cancer, days short to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But in spite of the tragic departure of a generational talent that transcended the pastime he cherished, his legacy and impact on the game and those who followed his career endure as powerful today.

'He just loved it': The Formative Years

"We'd never have known in a lifetime Paul would become a professional snooker player," Hunter's mum states.

"However he just adored it."

Alan Hunter recounts how his son "cared little for anything else" except for snooker as a child.

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

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a community venue to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the transition from table top snooker with great skill.

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

Quick Success: From Teenager to Champion

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as practice took priority, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully focus on forging a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within a short period, their young son had won his first ranking title, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the involvement of only the top competitors, Hunter won on three occasions, in consecutive years.

'A Gracious Competitor': The Man Behind the Cue

But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never faded.

"He was incredibly composed did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

"When encountering him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina continues. "Paul was fun. He'd make you relaxed."

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

With his natural likability, handsome features and straight-talking media manner, 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'.

Courage in Crisis: Illness and Resilience

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

Multiple stories from across the sporting world highlight the man's extraordinary commitment to honor obligations to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while enduring treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The famous Sheffield venue when he competed in the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in autumn 2006, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its cherished personalities.

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

An Enduring Legacy: Inspiring Youth

Hunter's true legacy 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 no-cost coaching to children all over the country.

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

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

The Foundation helped pave the way 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 senior official in the sport stated.

Always Remembered: A Lasting Presence

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

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

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she continues. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be recalled."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have secured snooker's ultimate trophy is etched into the sport's legend.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, begins later this month. The winner will lift the Paul Hunter Trophy.

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