'Paul was fun': Remembering the sport's lost great 20 years on.

All the young snooker player always wished to do was play snooker.

A competitive passion, developed at the tender age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his family's living room table in Leeds, would result in a professional career that saw him secure half a dozen major wins in a six-year span.

This year marks 20 years since the beloved Hunter passed away from cancer, mere days prior to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But despite the loss of a generational talent that transcended the game he loved, his legacy and impact on the sport and those who were close to him persist as strong as ever.

'The game was his life': Early Beginnings

"It was impossible to foresee in a lifetime our son would become a pro on the circuit," Kristina Hunter says.

"Yet he just adored it."

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

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

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a local club to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the jump from miniature games with remarkable ease.

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

Quick Success: From Teenager to Champion

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework often being ignored as the game dominated, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully focus on carving out a career in the game.

It was a resounding success. Within five years, their young son had won his first ranking title, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the involvement of elite players only, Hunter triumphed on three occasions, in the early 2000s.

'Paul was fun': A Legacy of Character

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

"His demeanor was excellent did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

"When encountering him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina adds. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" 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 considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the modern era.

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 marked the peak of his powers, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple stories from across the snooker circuit speak of the man's extraordinary commitment to keep promises to public appearances and promotional work, all while enduring treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter played on through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The Crucible Theatre when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in October 2006, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its most popular brothers.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to go through that pain."

An Enduring Legacy: The Paul Hunter Foundation

Hunter's true impact would be felt not in royal circles but in community venues across the UK.

The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to children all over the country.

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

"The idea was for a program to help offer a constructive activity," one organizer said.

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a huge coaching programme, which has provided 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: 20 Years Later

Archive videos of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "in touch with his memory".

"I can bring it up and I can watch Paul whenever I wish," Kristina says. "It's a comfort!"

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she concludes. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be recalled."

Although he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's greatest prize is ingrained in the sport's history.

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

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