'He brought laughter': Remembering snooker's departed star 20 years on.

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

A sporting bug, caught at the very young age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his home's central table in his Leeds home, would result in a pro playing days that saw him secure six major trophies in a six-year span.

Now marks a score of years since the beloved Hunter succumbed to cancer, just days before to his 28th birthday.

But in spite of the loss of a generational talent that rose above the game he loved, his legacy and impact on the game and those who were close to him remain as powerful today.

'His passion was clear': Early Beginnings

"We could not have predicted in a million years the boy would become a pro on the circuit," Hunter's mum states.

"But he just adored it."

His dad remembers how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" besides snooker as a youth.

"His dedication was constant," he says. "He would play every night after school."

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a local club to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the transition from miniature games with remarkable ease.

His raw skill would be coached by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now former establishment in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: The Path to Glory

With his parents' pleas to do his homework regularly going unheeded as the game dominated, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully dedicate himself to forging a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within five years, their young son had won his maior professional trophy, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the involvement of only the top competitors, Hunter triumphed three times, in consecutive years.

'Paul was fun': A Legacy of Character

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

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

"If you met him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina states. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "funny, kind" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his easy charm, youthful appearance and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new 21st Century.

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

Facing Adversity: A Fight Against Cancer

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

Multiple anecdotes from across the snooker circuit speak of the man's extraordinary dedication to honor obligations to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while going through treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a standing ovation at The Crucible Theatre when he competed in the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in the mid-2000s, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its best-loved members.

"It's awful," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

A Foundation for the Future: Inspiring Youth

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

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

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

"The aim remained for a scheme to help offer a constructive activity," one organizer said.

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

"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

Classic footage of their son's matches on YouTube help his parents stay "connected to him".

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

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she concludes. "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 common opinion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's ultimate trophy is etched into the sport's legend.

The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, commences later this month. The winner will lift the Paul Hunter Trophy.

But for all his achievements, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is never forgotten.