'He was a joy': Honoring the sport's taken talent two decades on.

Everything the young snooker player truly desired to do was practice the game.

A competitive passion, caught at the age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his parents' coffee table in Leeds, would lead to a life on the tour that saw him win six significant titles in half a dozen years.

The present year marks a score of years since the adored Hunter passed away from cancer, mere days prior to his 28th birthday.

But notwithstanding the passing of a phenomenal skill that transcended the pastime he cherished, his enduring mark on snooker and those who were close to him endure as powerful today.

'His passion was clear': A Childhood Obsession

"We'd never have known in a lifetime Paul would become a pro on the circuit," Hunter's mum recalls.

"But he just adored it."

Alan Hunter remembers how his son "showed no interest in anything else" except for snooker as a young boy.

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

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the leap from miniature games with aplomb.

His natural ability would be coached by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now defunct club 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 "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully focus on forging a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within a short period, their adolescent had won his first ranking title, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the presence of exclusively the best, Hunter triumphed a trio of times, in consecutive years.

'A Gracious Competitor': His Enduring Personality

But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature never deserted him.

"He was incredibly composed did Paul," Alan says. "He connected with everybody."

"Upon meeting 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 "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "funny, kind" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his effortless appeal, youthful appearance and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new 21st Century.

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

Facing Adversity: A Fight Against Cancer

In 2005, a year that should have been the peak of his powers, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

Multiple anecdotes from across the snooker circuit speak of the man's extraordinary dedication to keep promises to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The Crucible Theatre when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he died in the mid-2000s, snooker's close-knit fraternity 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: Giving Back

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

The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to youths all over the country.

The program was so successful that, according to reports, issues with young people in some areas fell sharply.

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

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a significant coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children internationally.

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

Never Forgotten: Two Decades On

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

"I can watch it and I can watch Paul whenever I wish," Kristina says. "It's marvellous!"

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she concludes. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be spoken of."

While he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have secured snooker's greatest prize is a part of the sport's history.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, commences 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.