'He was a joy': Honoring the sport's taken talent a score of years on.

All Paul Hunter always wished to do was play snooker.

A love for the game, developed at the very young age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his family's living room table in his Leeds home, would result in a life on the tour that saw him win six significant titles in a six-year span.

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

But in spite of the tragic departure of a once-in-a-generation player that transcended the game he loved, his enduring mark on snooker and those who followed his career persist as vibrant now.

'He just loved it': A Childhood Obsession

"We could not have predicted in a billion years our son would become a pro on the circuit," Kristina Hunter says.

"But he just adored it."

His dad remembers how his son "showed no interest in anything else" besides snooker as a youth.

"He was relentless," he says. "He competed every night after school."

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a local club to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the transition from miniature games with aplomb.

His mercurial talent would be nurtured by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now closed venue in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: The Path to Glory

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework often being ignored as practice took priority, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully focus on carving out a career in the game.

It was a resounding success. Within half a decade, their still-teenage son had won his maior professional trophy, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the lineup featuring exclusively the best, Hunter triumphed three times, in consecutive years.

'Paul was fun': A Legacy of Character

But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's humble charm never left him.

"His demeanor was excellent did Paul," Alan says. "He got on with everybody."

"When encountering him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina continues. "He brought joy. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "humorous, caring" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his natural likability, boyish good looks and honest interview style, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new millennium.

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

Facing Adversity: Illness and Resilience

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

Multiple anecdotes from across the snooker circuit highlight 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 played on through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The Crucible Theatre when he played at the World Championships that year.

When he died in October 2006, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its cherished personalities.

"It is tragic," 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 contribution would be felt not in palaces and castles but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK.

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

The program was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas fell sharply.

"The goal was for a scheme to help offer a constructive activity," one coach said.

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a major coaching programme, which has opened up playing opportunities to children internationally.

"It would have thrilled him what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a leading figure 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 bring it up and I can watch Paul anytime," Kristina says. "It's marvellous!"

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she concludes. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be recalled."

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, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.