'He was a joy': Remembering the game's lost great 20 years on.

All Paul Hunter ever wanted to do was compete on the baize.

A love for the game, developed at the very young age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his family's living room table in Leeds, would lead to a life on the tour that saw him secure six major trophies in a six-year span.

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

But despite the loss of a once-in-a-generation player that rose above the sport he adored, his influence and memory on the game and those who followed his career persist as vibrant now.

'His passion was clear': The Formative Years

"We'd never have known in a billion years the boy would become a professional snooker player," Kristina Hunter recalls.

"But he just adored it."

His dad remembers how his son "cared little for anything else" besides snooker as a young boy.

"His dedication was constant," he says. "He practiced 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 home play with great skill.

His natural ability would be nurtured by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now defunct club in the area of Yeadon.

Quick Success: A Star is Born

With his parents' pleas to do his homework regularly going unheeded as practice took priority, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully concentrate on forging a career in the game.

It was a resounding success. Within five years, their adolescent had won his maior professional trophy, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the presence of exclusively the best, Hunter triumphed three times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'Paul was fun': The Man Behind the Cue

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

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

"When encountering him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina adds. "He brought joy. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "funny, kind" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his easy charm, youthful appearance and candid way with the press, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new millennium.

No wonder then, that he was christened 'A Sporting Icon'.

Facing Adversity: Illness and Resilience

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have signaled the height of his career, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

Multiple stories from across the professional tour speak of the man's extraordinary commitment to honor obligations to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while enduring treatment.

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

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

"It's awful," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to go through that pain."

A Lasting Impact: Giving Back

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in high society but in community venues across the UK.

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

The program was so successful that, according to reports, anti-social behavior in some areas plummeted.

"The goal was for a platform to help provide a positive outlet," one official said.

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a major 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 senior official in the sport stated.

Forever in Memory: 20 Years Later

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

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

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

Even though he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's top honor 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 Paul Hunter Trophy.

But for all his achievements, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is never forgotten.