'He was a joy': Reflecting on the game's taken talent 20 years on.

All the young snooker player truly desired to do was compete on the baize.

A competitive passion, sparked at the very young age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his home's central table in Leeds, would culminate in a pro playing days that saw him claim half a dozen major wins in six years.

This year marks a score of years since the popular Hunter passed away from cancer, just days before to his birthday marking 28 years.

But notwithstanding the loss of a phenomenal skill that went beyond the game he loved, his enduring mark on snooker and those who knew him endure as powerful today.

'The game was his life': The Formative Years

"We'd never have known in a million years our son would become a career sportsman," his mother recalls.

"But he just loved it."

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

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

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the jump from miniature games with remarkable ease.

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

Quick Success: From Teenager to Champion

With his parents' pleas to do his homework often being ignored as training came first, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully focus on forging a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within a short period, their young son had won his initial major win, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the lineup featuring exclusively the best, Hunter triumphed on three occasions, in the early 2000s.

'A Cheeky Charm': The Man Behind the Cue

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

"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

"If you met him you'd take to him," Kristina continues. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you feel at ease."

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

With his easy charm, handsome features and candid way with the press, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new 21st Century.

No wonder then, that he was nicknamed 'The Beckham of the Baize'.

A Brave Battle: A Fight Against Cancer

In 2005, a year that should have signaled the height of his career, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

Multiple stories from across the snooker circuit speak of the man's extraordinary willingness to honor obligations to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while going through treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a standing ovation at The Crucible Theatre when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in autumn 2006, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its most popular brothers.

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

An Enduring Legacy: Giving Back

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in high society but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK.

The Paul Hunter Foundation, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions to children all over the country.

The scheme was so successful that, according to reports, anti-social behavior in some areas plummeted.

"The idea was for a scheme to help provide a positive outlet," one official said.

The Foundation helped pave the way for a huge coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children internationally.

"It would have thrilled him what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a senior official in the sport stated.

Never Forgotten: A Lasting Presence

Classic footage of their son's matches on YouTube help his parents stay "in touch with his memory".

"I can access it and I can watch Paul anytime," Kristina says. "It's wonderful!"

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she continues. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be mentioned at all."

Although he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion 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 most associated, begins 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 personality, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.