'Paul was fun': Reflecting on snooker's taken talent two decades on.

Everything Paul Hunter truly desired to do was practice the game.

A sporting bug, sparked at the tender age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his family's living room table in his Leeds home, would culminate in a pro playing days that saw him claim six significant titles in a six-year span.

Now marks a score of years since the popular Hunter died from cancer, days short to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But despite the tragic departure of a generational talent that rose above the sport he adored, his enduring mark on snooker and those who were close to him remain as strong as ever.

'His passion was clear': Early Beginnings

"We'd never have known in a lifetime our son would become a professional snooker player," his mother says.

"Yet he just loved it."

Alan Hunter recalls how his son "cared little for anything else" other than snooker as a youth.

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

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a local club to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the transition from table top snooker with aplomb.

His raw skill would be coached by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now closed venue in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: A Star is Born

With his family's urging to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as the game dominated, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully focus on carving out a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within a short period, their young son had won his maior professional trophy, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the involvement of elite players only, Hunter triumphed three times, in the early 2000s.

'Paul was fun': A Legacy of Character

But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never faded.

"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

"If you met him you'd like him," Kristina continues. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "funny, kind" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his easy charm, handsome features and candid way with the press, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the modern era.

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

Courage in Crisis: Illness and Resilience

In 2005, a year that should have marked the height of his career, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple stories from across the snooker circuit speak of the man's extraordinary willingness to keep promises to public appearances and promotional work, all while enduring treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The Crucible Theatre when he played at the World Championships that year.

When he died in autumn 2006, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its best-loved members.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

A Lasting Impact: Giving Back

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in palaces and castles but in local sports centers across the UK.

The charity in his name, 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, local youth crime rates in some areas fell sharply.

"The aim remained for a platform to help offer a constructive activity," one coach said.

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

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

Never Forgotten: Two Decades On

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

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

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she concludes. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be recalled."

Although he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's greatest prize is etched into the sport's history.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, begins later this month. The winner will lift the Paul Hunter Trophy.

But for all his achievements, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.