'Paul was fun': Reflecting on the sport's taken talent 20 years on.

All Paul Hunter truly desired to do was practice the game.

A competitive passion, developed at the age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his home's central table in Leeds, would lead to a life on the tour that saw him secure six significant titles in a six-year span.

The present year marks 20 years since the popular Hunter died from cancer, days short to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But in spite of the tragic departure of a once-in-a-generation player that transcended the pastime he cherished, his enduring mark on snooker and those who followed his career endure as strong as ever.

'He just loved it': The Formative Years

"It was impossible to foresee in a lifetime our son would become a professional snooker player," his mother states.

"Yet he just was passionate about it."

Alan Hunter remembers how his son "showed no interest in anything else" except for snooker as a young boy.

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

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the transition from home play with aplomb.

His mercurial talent would be nurtured by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now defunct club in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Quick Success: From Teenager to Champion

With his family's urging to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as training came first, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully dedicate himself to carving out a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within half a decade, their still-teenage son had won his first ranking title, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the presence of only the top competitors, Hunter triumphed a trio of times, in consecutive years.

'Paul was fun': The Man Behind the Cue

But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never deserted him.

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

"Upon meeting him you'd like him," Kristina adds. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "funny, kind" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his easy charm, youthful appearance and candid way with the press, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new millennium.

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

Facing Adversity: His Final Years

In that year, a year that should have marked the peak of his powers, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

Multiple anecdotes from across the snooker circuit speak of the man's extraordinary commitment to fulfill commitments to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while enduring 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 passed away in autumn 2006, snooker's tight community lost one of its best-loved members.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to lose a child."

A Foundation for the Future: Giving Back

Hunter's true contribution would be felt not in palaces and castles 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 youths all over the country.

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

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

The Foundation helped pave the way for a significant coaching programme, which has extended playing opportunities to children globally.

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

Forever in Memory: Two Decades On

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

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

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she continues. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be spoken of."

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

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

But for all his successes, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.