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

All the Leeds-born talent truly desired to do was practice the game.

A love for the game, sparked at the tender age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his home's central table in Leeds, would result in a professional career that saw him win six significant titles in a six-year span.

This year marks two decades since the popular Hunter passed away from cancer, days short to his 28th birthday.

But despite the tragic departure of a once-in-a-generation player that rose above the pastime he cherished, his legacy and impact on the sport and those who were close to him persist as strong as ever.

'His passion was clear': The Formative Years

"It was impossible to foresee in a billion years the boy would become a career sportsman," his mother recalls.

"But he just adored it."

Hunter's father recounts how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" besides snooker as a child.

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

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a local club to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the transition from home play with aplomb.

His raw skill would be nurtured by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now defunct club in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: The Path to Glory

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework often being ignored as the game dominated, 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 proved a masterstroke. Within a short period, their adolescent had won his initial major win, the Welsh Open of 1998.

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

'A Cheeky Charm': A Legacy of Character

But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never faded.

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

"Upon meeting him you'd take to him," Kristina adds. "Paul was fun. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "witty, generous" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his easy charm, handsome features and candid way with the press, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the modern era.

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

Facing Adversity: A Fight Against Cancer

In that year, a year that should have been the zenith of his talent, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple stories from across the snooker circuit highlight the man's extraordinary willingness to keep promises to public appearances and promotional work, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter played on through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The famous Sheffield venue when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

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

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to go through that pain."

A Foundation for the Future: Giving Back

Hunter's true impact would be felt not in palaces and castles but in local sports centers across the UK.

The Paul Hunter Foundation, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to youths all over the country.

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

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

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a significant coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children globally.

"He would have embraced what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a chairman in the sport stated.

Forever in Memory: 20 Years Later

Archive videos of their son's matches on YouTube help his parents stay "close to him".

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

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she continues. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be spoken of."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's ultimate trophy is a part of the sport's history.

The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, begins later this month. The winner will lift the trophy named in his honor.

But for all his achievements, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is always remembered.