'He brought laughter': Honoring the sport's lost great 20 years on.

Everything Paul Hunter always wished to do was practice the game.

A sporting bug, sparked at the tender age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his family's living room table in Leeds, would lead to a pro playing days that saw him claim six significant titles in six years.

This year marks 20 years since the adored Hunter died from cancer, just days before to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But in spite of the loss of a once-in-a-generation player that went beyond the sport he adored, his enduring mark on snooker and those who followed his career persist as powerful today.

'He just loved it': Early Beginnings

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

"Yet he just adored it."

Alan Hunter recounts how his son "showed no interest in anything else" other than snooker as a youth.

"His dedication was constant," he notes. "He competed every night after school."

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a community venue to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the leap from miniature games with great skill.

His raw skill would be developed by the snooker legend 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 age of 14 to fully dedicate himself to forging a career in the game.

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

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the presence of exclusively the best, Hunter was victorious 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 down-to-earth charisma never deserted him.

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

"If you met him you'd take to him," Kristina adds. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you comfortable."

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

With his natural likability, handsome features and candid way with the press, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the modern era.

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

Courage in Crisis: His Final Years

In that year, a year that should have been the peak of his powers, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple accounts from across the snooker circuit attest to the man's extraordinary commitment to keep promises to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, 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 passed away in autumn 2006, snooker's tight community lost one of its best-loved members.

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to lose a child."

An Enduring Legacy: The Paul Hunter Foundation

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

The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide accessible training to youths all over the country.

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

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

The Foundation helped pave the way for a major coaching programme, which has opened up playing opportunities to children all over the world.

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

Always Remembered: 20 Years Later

Historic matches of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "connected to him".

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

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she continues. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be mentioned at all."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's top honor is etched into the sport's folklore.

The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, starts 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 spirit, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.