'Paul was fun': Reflecting on snooker's taken talent a score of years on.

Everything the Leeds-born talent ever wanted to do was play snooker.

A love for the game, caught at the tender age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his home's central table in the city of Leeds, would culminate in a professional career that saw him win six major trophies in six years.

Now marks 20 years since the popular Hunter passed away from cancer, days short to his 28th birthday.

But despite the loss of a generational talent that went beyond the sport he adored, his influence and memory on the game and those who were close to him remain as vibrant now.

'The game was his life': Early Beginnings

"We could not have predicted in a lifetime Paul would become a pro on the circuit," Kristina Hunter recalls.

"Yet he just adored it."

Alan Hunter recalls how his son "showed no interest in anything else" except for snooker as a youth.

"His dedication was constant," he adds. "He practiced 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 budding player made the jump from home play 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.

Quick Success: From Teenager to Champion

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as practice took priority, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully dedicate himself to building a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within a short period, their young son had won his initial major win, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the involvement of exclusively the best, Hunter was victorious a trio of times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'Paul was fun': A Legacy of Character

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

"His demeanor was excellent did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

"When encountering him you'd like him," Kristina adds. "Paul was fun. He'd make you relaxed."

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

With his natural likability, boyish good looks and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new millennium.

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

Facing Adversity: His Final Years

In 2005, a year that should have signaled the zenith of his talent, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple accounts from across the sporting world highlight the man's extraordinary commitment 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 tumultuous reception at The Crucible Theatre when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he died in the mid-2000s, snooker's tight community lost one of its most popular brothers.

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

A Lasting Impact: The Paul Hunter Foundation

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in high society but in local sports centers 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, issues with young people in some areas fell sharply.

"The goal was for a program to help offer a constructive activity," one official said.

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a significant coaching programme, which has opened up playing opportunities to children all over the world.

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

Forever in Memory: A Lasting Presence

Historic matches of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "in touch with his memory".

"I can bring it up and I can watch Paul at any moment," Kristina says. "It's a comfort!"

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

Even though he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have secured snooker's greatest prize is etched into the sport's folklore.

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 successes, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is never forgotten.