'He brought laughter': Honoring the sport's departed star a score of years on.

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

A competitive passion, caught at the very young 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 win six major trophies in half a dozen years.

The present year marks two decades since the adored Hunter passed away from cancer, mere days prior to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But despite the loss of a phenomenal skill that rose above the sport he adored, his enduring mark on the sport and those who knew him endure as strong as ever.

'His passion was clear': The Formative Years

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

"However he just was passionate about it."

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

"His dedication was constant," he adds. "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 aspiring talent made the transition from home play with great skill.

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

Quick Success: A Star is Born

With his family's urging to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as training came first, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully dedicate himself to forging a career in the game.

It was a resounding success. Within a short period, their young son had won his initial major win, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the presence of elite players only, Hunter triumphed three times, in consecutive years.

'A Gracious Competitor': A Legacy of Character

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

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

"If you met him you'd like him," Kristina adds. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "humorous, caring" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his natural likability, youthful appearance and honest interview style, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the modern era.

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

A Brave Battle: A Fight Against Cancer

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have signaled the peak of his powers, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

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

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The World Championship arena when he played at the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in the mid-2000s, snooker's tight community lost one of its cherished personalities.

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to lose a child."

A Lasting Impact: Inspiring Youth

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

The Paul Hunter Foundation, set up before his death, would provide accessible training to youths all over the country.

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

"The aim remained for a program to help provide a positive outlet," one organizer said.

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a significant coaching programme, which has opened up 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 chairman in the sport stated.

Never Forgotten: A Lasting Presence

Historic matches of their son's matches online help his parents stay "in touch with his memory".

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

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she concludes. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be recalled."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's greatest prize is etched into the sport's history.

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

But for all his successes, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.