'He brought laughter': Remembering snooker's departed star 20 years on.

Everything the Leeds-born talent always wished to do was play snooker.

A love for the game, sparked at the very young age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his family's living room table in Leeds, would culminate in a life on the tour that saw him claim half a dozen major wins in half a dozen years.

Now marks two decades since the beloved Hunter succumbed to cancer, mere days prior to his birthday marking 28 years.

But in spite of the tragic departure of a once-in-a-generation player that went beyond the game he loved, his influence and memory on the game and those who followed his career endure as powerful today.

'He just loved it': Early Beginnings

"It was impossible to foresee in a million years our son would become a pro on the circuit," his mother states.

"But he just was passionate about it."

Alan Hunter recalls how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" besides snooker as a child.

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

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a community venue to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the jump from table top snooker with great skill.

His raw skill would be coached by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now defunct club in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Quick Success: A Star is Born

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework often being ignored as the game dominated, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully dedicate himself to forging a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within half a decade, their adolescent 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 elite players only, Hunter triumphed three times, in the early 2000s.

'A Gracious Competitor': His Enduring Personality

But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma 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 adds. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "funny, kind" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his easy charm, boyish good looks and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his considerable talent, 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: A Fight Against Cancer

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

Multiple anecdotes from across the professional tour speak of the man's extraordinary willingness to keep promises to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while enduring treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The famous Sheffield venue when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

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

"It's awful," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

An Enduring Legacy: Giving Back

Hunter's true impact would be felt not in royal circles but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK.

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

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

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

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

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

Forever in Memory: 20 Years Later

Historic matches of their son's matches on YouTube help his parents stay "connected to him".

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

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she concludes. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be mentioned at all."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's greatest prize 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 Paul Hunter Trophy.

But for all his successes, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is never forgotten.