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

Everything the Leeds-born talent truly desired to do was play snooker.

A competitive passion, sparked at the age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his family's living room table in Leeds, would result in a professional career that saw him claim six significant titles in six years.

Now marks 20 years since the adored Hunter succumbed to cancer, mere days prior to his 28th birthday.

But notwithstanding the passing of a once-in-a-generation player that went beyond the sport he adored, his enduring mark on the sport and those who knew him persist as powerful today.

'He just loved it': Early Beginnings

"We'd never have known in a billion years Paul would become a career sportsman," his mother states.

"However he just loved it."

Alan Hunter recounts how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" except for snooker as a child.

"He was relentless," he adds. "He would play every night after school."

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a community venue to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the leap from miniature games with aplomb.

His raw skill would be nurtured by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now former establishment in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: The Path to Glory

With his family's urging to do his homework often being ignored as practice took priority, 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 half a decade, their adolescent had won his first ranking title, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the involvement of only the top competitors, Hunter won three times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'Paul was fun': His Enduring Personality

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

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

"Upon meeting him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina continues. "Paul was fun. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "witty, generous" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his easy charm, youthful appearance and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new 21st Century.

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

A Brave Battle: Illness and Resilience

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have been the peak of his powers, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple accounts from across the professional tour highlight the man's extraordinary willingness to fulfill commitments to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while going through treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The famous Sheffield venue when he played at the World Championships that year.

When he died in autumn 2006, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its most popular brothers.

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

A Lasting Impact: Giving Back

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

The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions to youths all over the country.

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

"The idea was for a program to help provide a positive outlet," one official said.

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a significant coaching programme, which has extended 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 chairman in the sport stated.

Always Remembered: Two Decades On

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

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

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she continues. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be recalled."

Although he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's greatest prize is a part of the sport's legend.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most associated, commences later this month. The winner will lift the trophy named in his honor.

But for all his successes, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.