'He brought laughter': Reflecting on the sport's taken talent 20 years on.

All Paul Hunter always wished to do was practice the game.

A love for the game, developed at the age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his parents' coffee table in the city of Leeds, would result in a pro playing days that saw him win six major trophies in half a dozen years.

The present year marks 20 years since the popular Hunter died from cancer, just days before to his 28th birthday.

But despite the tragic departure of a generational talent that went beyond the pastime he cherished, his legacy and impact on the sport and those who were close to him persist as vibrant now.

'His passion was clear': A Childhood Obsession

"We'd never have known in a lifetime Paul would become a pro on the circuit," Hunter's mum states.

"But he just adored it."

His dad recalls how his son "cared little for anything else" except for snooker as a young boy.

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

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a local club to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the transition from table top snooker with aplomb.

His natural ability would be developed by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now defunct club in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: From Teenager to Champion

With his family's urging to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as the game dominated, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully focus on forging a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within five years, their still-teenage son had won his initial major win, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the presence of only the top competitors, Hunter won 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 faded.

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

"Upon meeting him you'd like him," Kristina states. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "witty, generous" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his natural likability, boyish good looks and honest interview style, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new 21st Century.

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

Courage in Crisis: His Final Years

In that year, a year that should have marked the zenith of his talent, 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 keep promises to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter played on through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The World Championship arena when he competed in the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in October 2006, snooker's tight community lost one of its cherished personalities.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

An Enduring Legacy: Giving Back

Hunter's true contribution 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 no-cost coaching to young people all over the country.

The initiative was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas plummeted.

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

The Foundation helped pave the way for a significant 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 senior official in the sport stated.

Always Remembered: 20 Years Later

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 whenever I wish," Kristina says. "It's wonderful!"

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she concludes. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be mentioned at all."

Although he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have secured snooker's top honor is ingrained in the sport's folklore.

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, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is always remembered.