'Paul was fun': Reflecting on the sport's departed star 20 years on.

Everything the Leeds-born talent truly desired to do was compete on the baize.

A love for the game, caught at the tender age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his home's central table in the city of Leeds, would lead to a life on the tour that saw him claim half a dozen major wins in half a dozen years.

Now marks a score of years since the popular Hunter died from cancer, mere days prior to his 28th birthday.

But notwithstanding the loss of a phenomenal skill that rose above the pastime he cherished, his enduring mark on snooker and those who knew him endure as strong as ever.

'His passion was clear': Early Beginnings

"We could not have predicted in a million years the boy would become a career sportsman," Kristina Hunter says.

"Yet he just loved it."

Hunter's father remembers how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" besides snooker as a youth.

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

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the leap from miniature games with great skill.

His mercurial talent would be coached by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now closed venue in the area 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 practice took priority, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully dedicate himself to building a career in the game.

It was a resounding success. Within five years, their adolescent had won his maior professional trophy, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the involvement of only the top competitors, Hunter triumphed on three occasions, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'A Gracious Competitor': The Man Behind the Cue

But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's humble charm never faded.

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

"Upon meeting him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina states. "Paul was fun. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "witty, generous" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his effortless appeal, youthful appearance and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the modern era.

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

Courage in Crisis: His Final Years

In 2005, a year that should have marked the height of his career, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple accounts from across the snooker circuit attest to the man's extraordinary willingness to fulfill commitments to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while enduring treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter played on through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The Crucible Theatre when he played at the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in October 2006, snooker's tight community lost one of its most popular brothers.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to go through that pain."

A Lasting Impact: Inspiring Youth

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in palaces and castles but in community venues across the UK.

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

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

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

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a major coaching programme, which has extended playing opportunities to children internationally.

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

Never Forgotten: A Lasting Presence

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

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

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she adds. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be mentioned at all."

Although he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's ultimate trophy is etched into the sport's folklore.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, commences later this month. The winner will lift the trophy named in his honor.

But for all his achievements, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.